Gold in compound form seized from 9 air passengers

Atempts by nine passengers to smuggle gold in compound form by hiding it in their rectum in capsules were foiled by the customs personnel at the Kozhikode airport and the contraband totally weighing 7.2 kg seized, a senior official said Wednesday.

The officials of the Air Intelligence unit seized 7.32 kg of gold in compound form from the passengers who had arrived from Dubai by different flights on Monday and Tuesday, Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said in a release.

The gold in compound form, which is a complex mixture of the precious metal with chemicals, was recovered after a procedure at a hospital where the passengers were taken.

The expected quantity of gold after segregation would be more than 5 kgs, Kumar said adding a thorough search of the passengers led to the seizures.

The passengers attempted to smuggle the gold by putting the compound into small capsules and inserting them in their rectum, the official said.

Some of them have been arrested, he said.