A man’s “suspicious” behaviour aroused the suspicions of Indian airport staff and he was later almost 1kilograms of gold worth over S$76,000.
The man boarded an Air Arabia flight to the city of Jaipur in India yesterday (April 23).
Airport officials conducted a check on the man and found gold that was wrapped in capsules and hidden away at the man’s bum.
99.5% Gold
Investigations revealed that inside those capsules were granules of gold.
“The 791 gram gold of 99.50% purity valued at Rs 42,79,310 (about S$76,700) was extracted and was seized,” the airport official said.
Since 2013, the illegal smuggling of gold into India to meet this demand has seen a resurgence as a result of the central government rescinding its customs duty cap, which has significantly increased the costs associated with legitimate imports to the point where prices are inflated by around 20% per ounce in tax alone.