Two people who tried to smuggle 1.25kgs of gold bars by hiding them in a secret pocket inside their undergarments were arrested at the RGI airport in Hyderabad along with their aides.
The Hyderabad-based suspects reportedly arrived on an Air India flight from Jeddah, and were nabbed on Friday by Customs Air Intelligence and South Zone Task Force officials in a joint operation.
The suspects were identified as Amer, Fahad and Fasiuddin, all from Rein bazar area in the Old City and in their twenties.
Fahad and Fasiuddin moved to Saudi Arabia three months ago. As per Amer’s orders, they along with two other passengers returned to Hyderabad on Air India 966 flight with the smuggled gold bars. Amer is based in Hyderabad.
The Deccan Chronicle report said that South Zone task force teams with Customs Air Intelligence teams nabbed them at airport parking lot when Fahad and Fasiuddin were handing over the smuggled gold bars to Amer.
However, another report said that while the duo were passing, the metal detectors beeped, and the official pulled them aside for questioning. After questioning they found out the associates waiting outside the airport.
Task Force sleuths, waiting outside the international arrival hall nabbed them all.
The accused have been arrested, while six bars weighing 1.25kgs which they were hiding in their undergarments between their thighs were recovered.
“The passengers had concealed broken pieces of gold biscuits in a custom-made secret pocket in their underwear,” a customs official told Times of India.