Customs officials unearthed a gold smuggling racket and arrested two men who tried to smuggle gold paste concealed in the waistline of their undergarments at Kempegowda International Airport on Friday.
Based on a tip-off from officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Customs officials confronted two passengers soon after they landed at the airport from Dubai and took them into custody.
The officials, after a detailed inquiry, recovered 2,843 grams of gold paste worth ₹1,44,78,607 from them. The duo have been taken into custody for further investigation to ascertain their smuggling network.
This is the second crackdown on gold smuggling with a similar modus operandi, as last Sunday the officials caught two men from Kozhikode, Kerala, at the airport and recovered gold paste worth an estimated ₹97.4 lakh that had been concealed in custom-stitched undergarments.
Investigators suspect the duo to be part of a larger smuggling gang.
