3.6 kg gold seized from toilets in plane from Bangkok

Chennai: Intelligence officials are worried about specific inputs that gold is being smuggled into India through international airlines that operate domestic flights as well.
On Thursday, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials were tipped off that gold bars would be hidden in places like the pocket for in-flight magazines, seat pockets or the slot for life jackets on the Bangkok-Chennai Spicejet Flight 96.
After an extensive search, the DRI team discovered 3.6kg of gold bars, worth 1.06 crore, concealed in both the front and rear toilets. There was no claimant for the gold bars, which bore a foreign mark, and have been seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
Further investigation is on to identify the gang involved in smuggling the gold.
DRI sources said the same SpiceJet Flight 96 was to proceed to Delhi after a brief stopover in Chennai. The smuggling ring operated in such a manner that some of its members would travel on the domestic leg and carry the concealed gold out of the Delhi airport.
This is done to avoid the stringent search by customs officials at Chennai airport that all passengers alighting from international flights are subject to, officials said.
Over the past few months, following a few seizures of gold smuggled in by passengers, search operations at Chennai and Trichy airports by DRI and Customs officials have intensified. The increased attempts to bring in the yellow metal, officials said, was due to the growing domestic demand.
In most instances, however, only carriers, known locally as 'kuruvis', who carry gold in different parts of their body, are caught and the big fish remain untouched.
The change in the modus operandi was noticed after the DRI received a tip and members of its Chennai unit studied the movement of flights arriving at Chennai from various international destinations, including Bangkok, Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
DRI officials declined to comment whether any airline or the airport are under their scanner