There seems to be no end to the gold smuggling through the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here. Customs officials again recovered gold weighing over 295 grams and worth over Rs 9 lakh from the possession of a passenger at the airport on Thursday.
Sources said the passenger of Indian origin arrived at the city airport from Bangkok by an AIR India flight.The Customs officials grew suspicious over the activities of the passenger and intercepted him. During the search, the officials found the passenger had hidden the precious yellow metal inside his rectum.
Sources said that over 7 kg of gold has been seized at the airport in the past two months. Now, it has become a cause of concern for the law enforcing agencies as to how to curb such gold smuggling.
On June 16, officials of the Air Intelligence Unit of Customs at the airport had foiled an attempt of smuggling of gold and seized 249.350 grams of gold worth Rs 7.9 lakh from a passenger.
On June 14, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of Customs had detained a passenger carrying five smuggled gold biscuits weighing 355.12 gram at the airport.