CHENNAI: Customs officials have seized liquid gold worth Rs 7.28 lakh concealed in a detergent from an air passenger who arrived from Dubai here recently.
The incident comes days after a similar case in which a passenger from Malaysia had tried to smuggle gold in liquid form on August 23 at the airport.
Acting on specific information, the officials intercepted the 25-year-old passenger at the international terminal, on August 29 and checked his belongings, which led to the seizure of the liquid gold, an official release said.
Initial investigations revealed that Abdul Niyas was carrying the liquid gold concealed in a can as a 'popular detergent'.
The plastic cans which had the detergent were unusually heavy forcing the authorities to test the solution.
"The solution inside it was Aqua Regia solution which can dissolve gold", the release said, adding the gold was extracted by way of heating the solution.
"After evaporation of liquid, the gold in powder form was extracted and then converted into pellets. A government approved valuer carried out the whole process which took nearly 14 hours", the release said.
The gold seized was of 245 grams of 24 Carat purity valued at Rs 7.28 lakh, the release added.