Guwahati: Customs officials at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi have apprehended two young men from Manipur for allegedly smuggling gold valued at Rs 1.34 crore into the country.
The incident transpired on Wednesday when the duo, believed to be in their late teens, arrived at the IGI airport on a flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Customs officials, acting on intelligence or suspicious activity, intercepted the individuals upon their arrival.
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A subsequent thorough examination revealed that the gold, weighing a substantial 1.8 kilograms, was ingeniously concealed within their bodies.
The smugglers had ingeniously transformed the precious metal into a chemical paste, making it difficult to detect during routine security checks.
This modus operandi highlights the increasing sophistication of gold smuggling operations, where individuals resort to increasingly intricate methods to evade detection.
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The concealment of gold within the human body poses significant health risks to the smugglers, as the ingestion of foreign substances can have severe medical consequences.
The arrested individuals are currently in custody and are being investigated further. The customs department has initiated legal proceedings against them under relevant provisions of the Customs Act.