Customs officials at the Mumbai airport seized gold weighing 1.6 kg worth Rs 45 lakh from four passengers arriving from Singapore. Two of them had hidden the gold in their rectum. All four have been arrested
Customs officials at the Mumbai airport seized gold weighing 1.6 kg worth Rs 45 lakh from four passengers arriving from Singapore. Two of them had hidden the gold in their rectum. All four have been arrested.
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According to The Times of India, officials from the air intelligence unit of the Customs department say that 13 gold bars weighing 100gm each were smuggled by the four from Singapore. Two of the accomplices hid the bars in their rectum and were scheduled to travel to Ahmedabad from Mumbai.
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Three more gold bars were discovered in the departure area by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials.
Also read - Mumbai: Man smuggles gold bars in rectum, hospitalised
Officials state that the modus operandi of such gold smugglers is by concealing the booty inside the aircraft with the knowledge that some of these flights operate on the domestic route. The gold would then be removed from their associates, who would travel on these planes and hide it in their rectums alternatively before boarding the onward flight.
There have been a number of instances in recent times of smugglers caught hiding gold in their rectum.
Also read - Two Sri Lankans held at Mumbai airport with gold bars worth Rs 1 crore concealed in their rectum
In May, officials of the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) booked a Sri Lankan man for trying to smuggle gold worth Rs 14.90 lakh into the country by concealing it in his rectum. While he handed over six gold bars to the officials at the airport, the remaining 12 could only be recovered only after admitting him to a hospital.
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Two Sri Lankan nationals were intercepted at the Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport in April, as they were trying to smuggle gold bars worth nearly Rs 1 crore. They had concealed the bars in their rectum.
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