BHUBANESWAR: The officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) were on Wednesday seized 3.77 kilograms of gold valued at Rs. 2.79 crore from four passengers at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.
What surprised the DRI officials is the modus operandi of the smugglers. They were concealing the gold items in their rectum to avoid scanning by metal detector.
Sources said that the officials of the DRI identified four passengers who had arrived from Dubai in Bhubaneswar on May 6. During questioning, the passengers revealed that all of them had attempted to smuggle gold in paste form by concealing it in their rectum.
Subsequently, 12 capsules containing gold in paste form were recovered from the four passengers.
“Heat treatment of the contraband resulted in compound separation and gold weighing 3.77 kg, valued at Rs. 2.79 cr was recovered,” DRI said in a release.
The recovered gold has been seized and the four passengers were arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. Further investigation in this connection is underway.
