Man arrested for smuggling 230 g gold at Jaipur airport

Jaipur: The customs department on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly smuggling 230g gold at Jaipur international airport. He hid the gold in the work file and covered it through multiple layers of papers in his bag.

The man arrived at Jaipur airport from Muscat, Capital of Oman. The gold is believed to be worth Rs 7 lakh in the international markets.

According to the officials, gold sheets were spotted under the layers of work file during the security check.

The gold was seized and the smuggler was arrested. The team is questioning the man to get further details on the smuggling network that he was part of, added officials.

The smuggler covered the gold sheets very neatly under multiple layers of cardboard and papers. However, a security scan of his luggage helped security agencies discover the gold.

The officer said that the man will be produced in a court. Further investigation is going on.

Similarly, the customs department arrested a man for smuggling 730g gold in liquid form at Jaipur International Airport on Sunday. Initially, the security agencies believed that it was a pickle, but when the liquid was scanned through security scanners, the smuggling came to the light.

According to the customs officials, smugglers are using different ways to smuggle gold. Some hide it in cardboard sheets, some in their rectum, some in sandals, socks, books, earphones and what not.

The smugglers have made the Jaipur international airport a middle spot for gold smuggling from foreign countries to other states including Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and others.

Security agencies are keeping a close eye and are alert due to an increase in gold smuggling from other countries.

The customs department officials have caught several people smuggling gold at Jaipur airport in the past two years. The graph of the smuggling in the year 2018 and the initial months of 2019 has increased to double as compared to 2017-18.