Bid to smuggle gold, foreign currencies foiled; 1 arrested

Bid to smuggle gold, foreign currencies foiled; 1 arrested Chennai, Jan 17 (PTI): Gold worth Rs one crore and foreign currencies equivalent to over Rs 10 lakh have been seized from air passengers in the last two days, Customs officials said here on Friday. Eight passengers, who had arrived from Colombo and Bangkok on Thursday and Friday, were checked based on a tip-off.

The search revealed gold concealed in their rectum, the officials said. The seized metal weighed 2.5 kg and was worth Rs 1.03 crore, a press release said.

One of the passengers was detained as the cumulative gold recovered from the person was over Rs 20 lakh, the release said. In another incident, the baggage of a passenger bound for Bangkok was searched and it yielded foreign currencies equivalent to Rs 10.83 lakh, it said..