A novel attempt to smuggle in gold was thwarted by the Customs Air Intelligence Unit at the Cochin International Airport in the early morning hours of Monday.
The drama unfolded when the strange gait of a passenger who landed by an early morning flight from Muscat drew the attention of Customs sleuths. The man, a resident of Thalassery, was intercepted and examined, upon which nearly 700 grams of gold in paste form was found wrapped around his foot.
The gold, in paste form and placed as a coating, was tightly wrapped around his foot with adhesive tape, over which he had worn socks and shoes. Nearly 80% of the gold could be extracted from the paste.
The passenger’s arrest was recorded before he was released on bail.
New ways
Customs officials at the Kochi airport continue to come across novel ways of attempted smuggling. Last month, they caught a youngster from Malappuram while attempting to smuggle in 1 kg of gold hidden under his wig.
