India: Two passengers arrested for smuggling gold in rectum and coffee machine

The customs department of the Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport, in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, arrested two passengers trying to smuggle foreign-origin gold. According to the airport officials, it was the biggest haul of 2023.

There were two separate cases at the airport, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) said in a post on X. In the first incident, customs officials found gold inside a coffee machine. The passenger arrived in India from Dubai, and the total value of the 3.494 kg recovered gold was around ₹2 crore ($264,508).

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In the second case, the officials recovered gold in paste forminside the rectum of another passenger travelling from Sharjah.

Customs Commisionerate, Lucknow, posted on X, "On 31.12.2023 officers of CCSI Airport Lucknow seized 554 gms of Foreign origin gold valued at Rs. 0.35 Cr ($42080). from a passenger arriving from Sharjah by flight no 6E1424. The gold in paste form was concealed in the rectum of the pax."

CBIC has also shared a video of customs officials using a hammer to break the coffee machine and recover two cylindrical gold bars. Since 2018, the Lucknow airport's customs department has reportedly arrested over a hundred passengers and seized around 255 kg of gold worth from smugglers.

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However, it is not the first time the customs department has found gold from a passenger's rectum. In July 2023, customs officials of the Cochin International Airport arrested a passenger named Muhammad Ali Gafoor, travelling from Malaysia to Kochi, trying to smuggle two capsule-shaped packets containing gold in paste concealed inside his rectum. Officials also discovered two crude gold chains in his handbag.

People have started concealing gold in paste form to avoid metal detectors at the airport. In August 2023, officials at the Cochin airport arrested a man travelling from Dubai, trying to smuggle four capsule-shaped packets weighing 1111.25 grams inside his rectum.

However, the rectum is not the only type of body concealment people use. In August 2022, customs officials of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi booked a passenger from Abu Dhabi carrying gold worth ₹30.55 lakhs ($over 36,000) concealed inside his wig and rectum.

People have used rectum to smuggle all sorts of contraband. In October 2023, officials at Delhi airport arrested a Kenyan passenger travelling from Addis Ababa who concealed seven capsules containing 455g of cocaine worth ₹6.83 crore in her rectum cavity.

(With inputs from agencies)