BENGALURU: A total of 4.94 kilograms of gold, smuggled by 18 passengers from cities in Gulf by concealing them in their rectum, were seized by the Air Intelligence Unit of the Bangalore Customs on Thursday. The total worth of the gold seized is estimated to be nearly Rs 2.35 crore.
It appears to be a major group operation with 17 of those caught travelling from Sharjah to Bengaluru by an Air Arabia flight (G9 496). It reached the Kempegowda International Airport on October 7 at 3.40 am. “They all hail from Tamil Nadu and were all carriers of the yellow metal. They had concealed the gold inside capsules in their rectum,” a Customs official said. A single flyer, who adopted the same concealment technique, had flown in from Dubai to Bengaluru by an Emirates flight.
The detection was made after the flyers were subjected to intensive checks after customs officials became suspicious on account of the frequent travel history on their passports, the source added.