On Sunday, customs officials at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) arrested two people who were attempting to smuggle 1.3kg of gold valued at around Rs 41.31 lakhs, by hiding it in their sandals.

A passenger by the name of Samseer Ali, who was flying to Bengaluru from Dubai via Goa, had hidden a paste made of gold in the sole of his sandals. On reaching Goa, his accomplice Salman Faris boarded the flight and sat next to Ali. The two exchanged sandals on the flight. On reaching Bengaluru, the duo were caught by officials who noticed their suspicious behaviour.

When they were questioned, it was discovered that the two were smuggling the gold and Faris’ sandals were cut open to find 1.3kg of gold paste in them.

Earlier, on Saturday, another man flying in to Bengaluru from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Malaysian Airlines was caught by officials for trying to smuggle gold. The man, identified as 47-year-old Moideen Kunja Mohammed Shafi, had been wearing gold jewellery weighing 568 grams and roughly worth about Rs 17.91 lakh. He had hidden the gold under his clothing.

In yet another incident, officials seized two gold kadas weighing 333 grams and estimated to be valued at Rs 10.50 lakh from 44-year-old Vinod Kumar Parasmal Jain and 38-year-old Pinto Kumar on Thursday. The two were flying in from Dubai on Oman Air and had concealed the kada below their clothing. 

In the last week alone, five people have been arrested by officials for attempting to smuggle gold. Over 2kg is the estimated weight of the seized gold, and it has been speculated that the total worth of the seized metal is nearly Rs 69.75 lakh.