Two employees of the immigration department, a staffer from a ground handling agency, and two passengers — from Singapore and Bahrain respectively — were detained by directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) officials at Chennai airport, for their involvement in gold smuggling.
The authorities seized gold biscuits weighing 8.6 kg and detained the five for interrogation. The seized gold was valued at Rs. 2.5 crore.
A passenger from Singapore landed at the airport around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, carrying with him 4 kg of gold biscuits.
When he handed over the gold biscuits to an immigration employee, DRI officials intercepted and secured them both. Later investigation led to the detention of the third person.
The second instance involved a woman passenger from Bahrain who carried 4.6 kg of gold biscuits. She was detained along with an employee of a ground handling agency.