Man held for smuggling gold worth Rs 38 lakh at airport

A passenger was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valued at about Rs 38 lakh, officials said today.
The passenger was intercepted at international airport here by customs officials yesterday after his arrival from Singapore.
Officials found 1.5 kg of gold concealed inside his underwear, a customs official said.
The gold was seized and the passenger arrested, he said, adding the value of the yellow metal is estimated to be Rs 37.97 lakh, he said.
In past one week, at least five persons, including a woman, have been arrested at the airport for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valuing over Rs 2.30 crore in separate incidents.

In the first incident, a woman was intercepted after her arrival here on Monday from Bangkok. On her detailed examination, eight enamelled gold bangles weighing about 3 kg were recovered which she was wearing in her hands, customs officials said.

The accused, who is in her late 20s and belongs to Punjab, was arrested and the recovered gold was seized. The value of the gold is Rs 75.58 lakh, they said.
In another incident, four accused were intercepted by customs officials upon their arrival on January 23 from different international and domestic flights - one from Bangkok and three from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Amritsar respectively.

One of the accused had hidden 600 gm of gold in his mobile while another passenger had hidden it in his innerwear. Rest were hiding gold in their baggage, the officials said.
The accused were carrying ten gold bars collectively weighing about 6.2 kg worth Rs 1.57 crore, they said.
All the accused have been arrested and the gold bars seized.
The total value of gold being smuggled into the country in these two cases is Rs 2.32 crore.