Gold worth Rs 1.75 crore seized at Chennai airport; 5 held

Chennai, Jan 24 (PTI): A total of 3.46 kgs of gold worthRs 1.75 crore were seized at the airport here and fiveair passengers, who arrived from Dubai, arrested in thisconnection, Customs Department said on Sunday.

The authorities, based on specific intelligence,intercepted the passengers hailing from Tamil Nadu andconfiscated the precious metal in paste form concealed intheir rectums, a Customs official said.

Gold in cut bits form in their pant pockets was alsorecovered from them, Commissioner of Customs Rajan Chowdhrysaid in a press release.

On further examination of the baggage, the sleuthsrecovered 75 cartons of cigarettes and used laptops, therelease said.

In total, 3.46 kgs of the gold worth Rs 1.75 crore,cigarettes and used laptops costing Rs 2.50 lakh wererecovered, it said.