A passenger from Dubai to Kannur International Airport in Kerala, India attempted to smuggle nearly a kilogram of gold inside his body. The man arrived on a recent Go Air flight with four pieces of flattened gold hidden up his rectum according to a Tweet from Commissionerate of Customs in Cochin.
972 grams of gold was extracted from the first suspect, while 1.47 kilograms of gold was found on a second man onboard the same flight. The authorities did not reveal where the gold was hidden but said they had “extracted” it from him.
Another suspect who had arrived at Kozhikode Airport on an Air Arabia from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates was stopped with 386 grams of gold hidden inside his underpants.
According to The National, there have been seven reported cases of gold smuggling reported by Cochin customs officials in just a week. The passengers originated in the United Arab Emirates and an eighth case was linked to neighbouring Oman.
The newspaper reports that the goods and services tax on gold in India is 18 per cent, which can make smuggling the precious metal a lucrative business.
The UAE has become the fourth largest gold-importing country in the world with a trade value of approximately $27,672,052,091. In 2016, India imported a total of more than 200 tons or just over $8 billion in UAE gold doré – second only to Switzerland.
