Concealment in rectum seems to be a preferred mode for gold smugglers arriving at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here from various parts of the world, especially Gulf and Middle East countries.
In the recent past, enforcement agencies deployed at the RGIA detained several Indian-origin air passengers who tried to smuggle in gold in the form of a paste by concealing the material in their rectum. On Wednesday too, sleuths of the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs Department detained a passenger who attempted to smuggle gold paste by concealing it in his rectum.
The passenger Shek Fariyaz Ahmmed arrived at RGIA from Dubai by Indigo flight 6E 025. He concealed the 667 grams of gold paste in his rectum, which was stuffed in six cylindrical tubes. The market value of the contraband was ₹ 25,68,758. The officials said that Fariyaz attempted to smuggle Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro worth ₹1.09 lakh and 24 burqas costing ₹ 72,000. “He was using the premium phone and burqas as camouflage to sneak the gold of higher value. But, we could make out that he was smuggling some precious item and when grilled, he confessed of crime,” an official told The Hindu .
When asked if the ‘unusual’ walking style of a passenger attracts their attention, the officer said those tricks have become old school practices. “Now, even they have become thorough professionals and are adopting novel ways to smuggle the contraband. It all depends on the ability of officer-in-charge,” he said, adding that he cannot reveal their ‘trade secret’ on identifying the suspects.
He said that the kingpins in Dubai and other Gulf countries train their couriers on how to walk normally even after concealing large quantities of gold in the rectum. “You can’t make by the walking style. Only first-time couriers may get caught, but the repeat offenders have their ways of avoiding the attention of the officials,” he said, adding that passenger profiling plays a key role in such cases.
On October 18, the officials of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence thwarted the attempt of a passenger to smuggle in 832 grams of gold paste worth ₹ 27.87 lakh. The accused passenger, who concealed three elliptical-shaped balls of gold paste in his rectum, arrived at RGIA from Mumbai.
The officer said the majority of passengers who act as couriers were Indian nationals, mostly from the two Telugu-speaking States.
