Customs official wears 5 briefs to conceal and smuggle 3 kg gold, nabbed by CBI

Wearing five briefs in the sultry weather of Cochin to conceal three kilograms of gold could not save a customs officer from the clutches of the law as he was booked by the CBI for allegedly helping to smuggle the yellow metal, officials said.

The agency has booked Francis CX posted as Customs Havildar at the Cochin International Airport for allegedly helping to smuggle the gold having a market value of Rs 1.01 crore which was brought from Dubai by one Adinan Khalid on a private airlines on the instructions of one Faisal P A, the officials said.

The agency has booked the trio under IPC sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, cheating and provisions of bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.

Searches were conducted at the residence of all three in Ernakulam district on Friday, they said.

Francis, who was off duty on March 1, had come to the airport, using his identity card to enter and facilitate the smuggled gold out of the exit gate, the agency said.

The gold was handed over to Francis by Khalid in the gents toilet behind conveyer belt in the international arrivals area, the agency alleged.

Francis allegedly concealed the gold bars in his five lower undergarments he was wearing using black insulation tapes to hold three gold bars each weighing nearly a kilo each, they said.

His luck soon ran out at the exit gate where he was intercepted by Directorate of Revenue Officials who recovered the bars concealed in his briefs, they alleged.

"Reliable information was also received to the effect that Francis had got a remuneration of Rs two lakh for smuggling the gold. It is also alleged that Francis had previously smuggled gold out of airport on several occasions," the CBI FIR alleged.