442 gm gold paste found in man’s rectum at KIA

Hameed Ashraf | NT

 Bengaluru

Despite the tight security at the airports, which often inconveniences passengers, drug traffickers and gold smugglers around the world adopt bizarre ways to smuggle them from one place to another, often hiding them in their body parts.

In the latest incident, the customs officer at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) seized 442 grams of gold, valued at Rs 22 lakh, from a passenger who had landed in the city from Bangkok. Notably, he had hid the gold in his rectum in the form of paste contained in egg-shaped capsules, sources said.

As per the Airport officials, the passenger was caught on Tuesday after the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) noticed the presence of metal inside the rectal cavity of the passenger during the security check. "While being interrogated, the man could not come up with a satisfactory explanation, and this aroused suspicion.

He was taken to a medical examination room and an X-ray of his abdomen showed that he was concealing some metallic items in his body cavity," an official from customs said.

Following this, the passenger confessed to hiding gold paste in his rectum. After recovering the gold, the authorities handed over the accused to Customs officials for further probe. Further investigations are being carried out, the official added.

 Smugglers using similar modus operandi have been reported in various parts of the country. Varanasi Airport officials recently seized more than half a kilogram of 22 carat gold from a passenger, who too had concealed it inside his rectum.