Authorities at a Kerala airport today confiscated 302 grams of gold from a traveller who had hidden it in the form of a paste between the layers of his pair of pants.
The Kannur airport’s Air Intelligence Unit and Customs department confiscated gold worth Rs 14 lakh.
According to a tweet from ANI, the precious metal was smuggled in paste form this time, rather than the usual jewellery or biscuit forms. The image shared by the news agency shows the double-layered pants in question that have been cut up to reveal the said gold paste.
The image depicts a bright-yellow gold paste that has been applied to the entire length of the pants. “Air Intelligence Unit at Kannur airport has seized 302 grammes of gold in the shape of a very thin paste, secreted under the double-layered pants worn by a passenger,” according to ANI, citing the Customs Preventive Unit in Kochi.
The remarkable cleverness displayed by the alleged smuggler in the case astounded social media users. One user exclaimed, “What a method!”
Another commenter joked, “When I grow up, I want to be a customs officer in Kerala.”
“As if the whole pant isn’t going to go off when they walk through the metal detector. “Gold is a metal, and passing it through any metal detector in any form will set it off!” one user countered, questioning the logic of such a move.
Such unusual gold smuggling methods are not uncommon in the country. A man from Sharjah was recently caught at the airport in Amritsar for reportedly attempting to bring in 1,894 grammes of gold paste by concealing it in his underwear.
Officials discovered 1,894 grammes of gold in the form of a paste on his underwear during the search. According to a statement from the Customs department, 1,600 grammes of gold worth Rs. 78 lakh were recovered during the extraction.
The Chenab Times News Desk