A man, who allegedly smuggled 1.38 kg of gold in a novel way by coating it with nickel and attaching it as metallic parts of toys, pens, watches, footwear and binder clips, was arrested and the valuables were seized by the sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence at Madurai airport on Wednesday.
Sleuths from DRI scrutinised the passengers of a flight from Dubai that landed here on Wednesday evening. One passenger was singled out on suspicion.
The large number of toys, pens, baby footwear, watches, key chains, and binder clips carried by the person, who claimed to have bought them in Dubai, were found to be abnormally heavy. Thorough examination by a gold assayer, which involved the removal of nickel coating, revealed that 182 metal pieces that are part of these objects were actually made of gold of 24-carat purity, weighing a total of 1.38 kilograms and reportedly valued at ₹ 38,63 lakh. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the objects were handed over to him by a person in Dubai for a man in Madurai who was supposed to contact him over phone. Stating that further investigation was under way on, DRI sources said the man was arrested on Thursday as per The Customs Act of 1962.
