Refusal to eat refreshments sparks doubt, leads to arrest of man smuggling gold at Delhi airport

Refusal to eat refreshments served by Air India cabin crew led to the arrest of a smuggler who was moving gold worth Rs 69 lakh ($83,000)from Jeddah to New Delhi. The passenger was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital city of India.

Reports state that the unnamed man refused all refreshments during the five-and-a-half-hour flight, he initially refused to drink any water when the flight attendant offered a bottle to each passenger. The man later also refused to consume the food served, leading to suspicions regarding his behaviour,

One of the flight attendants informed the captain who in turn called the security agencies via Air Traffic Control (ATC) and alerted them of the passenger and his suspicious antics.

After the plane landed, security personnel kept a close eye on the man who attempted to sneak through theGreen Customs Clearance Channel. He was stopped and called in for questioning where he admitted to having concealed the gold in his rectum in the form of four oval capsules.

Joint Commissioner (Customs) Monika Yadav revealed that approximately 1096.76 grammes of gold was recovered from the passenger, which comes to approximately $83,000.

"He was arrested under the Customs Act after admitting to smuggling gold from Jeddah," said Yadav.

Previous incidents

n May, earlier this year, an air hostess was arrested by theDirectorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)for allegedly smuggling nearly one kilogram of gold from Muscat to Kannur by hiding it in her rectum.

The air hostess, identified asSurabhi Khatun,a native of Kolkata, was detained immediately after she landed at the Kannur International Airport.

It is suspected that Surabhi may have smuggled gold in a similar fashion in the past, as suggested by investigators and evidence collected by them.

As per sources, the involvement of a Kerala-based smuggling gang is also suspected, and further investigation is underway.

Earlier this month, a souvenir shop at Chennai airport was exposed as a front for a Sri Lankan gold smuggling syndicate earlier. The shop, run by a YouTuber namedMohammed Sabir Ali facilitated the gold smuggling racket out of the southern state of India.

Customs arrested Ali and seven of his employees for their role in267 kg gold worth₹167 crore ($20 million) over a period of two months.

(With inputs from agencies)