Three passengers from Kuala Lumpur were arrested when they tried to smuggle two kg of gold at the Tiruchi Airport on Thursday night. All the three passengers, who arrived here by an Air Asia flight at 11.45 p.m., had concealed the gold pieces in their rectum. Officials intercepted the passengers on suspicion based on their profile, Customs sources said.
Four cut and moulded pieces of gold, weighing 999.8 grams, were recovered from Mohamed Eliyas of Gopalapattinam near Meemisal. Two other passengers, Risuan Mohamed and Mohamed Ibrahim, also of Gopalapattinam, had concealed two gold pieces each in their body, said A.R.S.Kumar, Commissioner of Customs, Tiruchi, in a press release. The gold seized from the three persons was valued at Rs.59.72 lakh.
Mohamed Eliyas was arrested and remanded in judicial custody as the value of the gold smuggled by him was above Rs.20 lakh, the sources said. All the three persons were found to be frequent fliers and officials suspect them to “carriers” who had tried to smuggle the gold on behalf of others. Further investigations were on.
