Indian customs officers have arrested a man who travelled from Singapore and was found with 12 gold bars hidden in his rectum. The 36-year-old man took a Tigerair flight from Singapore to India the Indian media reported. The suspect hails from Tamil Nadu, and was apprehended at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 1am on Sunday morning.
The customs officers reportedly became suspicious when they noticed several LED lamps in his checked-in luggage. Their search revealed eight gold bars (each weighing about 100g) hidden in the lamps’ back covers. Indian custom officials said that they received prior information about the passenger and intercepted him as soon as he landed.
The man denied carrying any more gold, but a metal detector check revealed the other gold bars, weighing 1.2kg, in his rectum. The gold have an estimated value of $125,453 in total. The smuggler has been detained pending investigations.
The Daily Mail reported that three airline passengers arrested by Bangladesh customs officers in May last year for smuggling up to eight gold bars in their rectums.