Gold in ingenious disguises seized at Bengaluru airport

Bengaluru: Custom officials at the Kempegowda International Airport at Bengaluru were successful in making multiple large-scale seizures of illegal gold which was smuggled into the country in a week. Also four persons were arrested in cases related to gold smuggling.

The manner in which the offenders tried to defy the law makes the interceptions interesting. The ingenious methods used for smuggling include a a South Korean national who attempted to smuggle gold by wrapping 50 confectionaries with thin foil of the precious metal. In total, the gold amounted to 514 grams worth Rs 15.98 lakh.

On July 20, officials at the Bengaluru airport nabbed a Kerala man after he was screened following passenger profiling by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Bengaluru Customs and was found carrying 50 chocolates and chewing gums wrapped in pure gold which had been beaten into foil and cut into small pieces. The total gold in that seizure amounted to 384 grams worth Rs 11.83 lakh.

In another incident, another man from Kerala was caught when officials scanning his check-in luggage found dark X-Ray images which led them to manual inspection of his belongings. The inspection revealed 875 grams of gold worth Rs 27 lakh, hidden in a foot pump.

Customs officials also caught another man from the same state with Rs 9.85 lakh worth of gold in the form of paste in a chemical and mud mixture.

A total of 100 kg of gold worth Rs 30 crore was seized from the airport, in the previous financial year, it was reported.