2 Sri Lankans held for bid to smuggle gold worth Rs 87 lakh

Two Sri Lankan nationals were today arrested at the city international airport for allegedly trying to smuggle gold bars worth over Rs 87 lakh into the country, a Customs official said.

The action was taken when Jameer Wahid (42) and Althaf Hameed, both holding Sri Lankan passports, arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here from Dubai by an Emirates Airlines flight in the wee hours, the official said.

"The duo was intercepted at the arrival hall of the airport. Wahid's personal search resulted in the recovery of 13 gold bars weighing 1,516 grams valued at Rs 45,48,000.

Similarly, 12 gold bars weighing 1399 grams valued at Rs 41,97,000 were recovered from Hameed," the official said.

"The duo had concealed the gold bars in their rectums," he said.

Both the passengers belong to Puttalam district in Sri Lanka. They are frequent fliers to India and were involved in trading of textile material, ready-made garments and cosmetics.

In another incident, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs intercepted one Sayed Noorulameen (26), who had arrived from Dubai yesterday.

"The youth was carrying cylindrical gold rods weighing 567 grams valued at Rs 17 lakh that were concealed in hand-operated juicer machine," the official added.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)