A 22-year-old man flying from Dubai to Kozhikode landed in the customs dragnet on Saturday, when officials at the Kempagowda International Airport in Bengaluru caught him red handed with gold worth Rs 40 lakh.
Petlee Peter reports for The Times of India that Kozhikode-native Irshad Poovathil smuggled 1.47 kg of gold. But what nearly got him through was the “innovative” way in which the gold was smuggled. Irshad carried flasks, solar panels, computer motherboards, a woman’s purse and a wrist watch, which had components of gold in them.
The report states that Irshad had disembarked from an Emirates flight from Dubai on Saturday.
“During passenger profiling, we found he was a first-time flyer and was returning home from Dubai via Bengaluru after a monthlong stay. We got suspicious and examined his baggage. We found a lot of flasks, keyboard instruments and solar panel chargers,” an officer told TOI.
After Irshad failed to give convincing answers as to why he was carrying the items, the officials then scanned the items.
As the insulation material in the two flasks were brighter than usual, the officials ascertained that it was gold. The panels of the solar charges, components of the motherboard and the clasp of the purse were replaced with gold, some given a mercury coating to avoid detection.
The investigators then arrested Irshad and sent him to judicial custody. However, Irshad appears to be the tip of the ice berg. He told officials that he visited Dubai at the invitation of his friends, who paid for his travel and accommodation. While returning, they reportedly asked him to hand over the bag to a person outside Kozhikode airport.
According to another TOI report, 28.97 kg of gold worth over Rs 8 crore was smuggled into KIA from April to January.