Five people have been caught by customs officials at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state of Telangana, attempting to smuggle gold from Dubai hidden in the motors of kitchen appliances.
Custom officials were quoted by Indian daily, The Hindu, saying that the accused had concealed gold worth $15 million in mixer grinder motors and cutting appliances.
The case is yet another recent example of the bizarre ways people have been adopting to smuggle the precious metal into the country. In May 2019, a passenger flying to Hyderabad from Dubai was detained concealing 1.118 kg gold in a briefcase corner with silver coated strips.
There have been several cases where passengers have been caught with gold paste concealed in body parts like their stomach or rectum. Recently, in December 2020, a man was caught with 300 gram of gold paste, in the form of capsules, hid in his rectum.
In September last year, a man was caught by customs officials at Calicut International Airport, Kerala, concealing 40 grams of gold behind the exhalation valve of his face mask.
Gold is much cheaper in Dubai, priced INR 37,947 for 10 grams of 22 carat gold, as against INR 43,620 in India.
