1.8 kg gold seized at RGI airport

On Saturday, sleuths beat smugglers in their own game when they seized 1.8kg gold slurry made of a concoction of unknown synthetic material and gold powder from a conduit at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). The smuggler was arrested after his touchdown at Hyderabad airport from a flight from Madurai.

Acting on specific alert, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths intercepted the 30-year-old man who came to RGIA in a Spicejet aircraft early on Saturday. The passenger said, he was from Tamil Nadu, but could not provide satisfactory reasons for coming to Hyderabad. DRI personnel examined his hand baggage and found a package with soft material.



The brown slurry like material in the package weighed 1.8kg.

Earlier, the accused claimed his friend handed over the package to him at Madurai airport and was unaware of its contents. DRI sleuths then melted the slurry in a smoulder and retrieved 1.12kg gold worth Rs.34.57 lakh.

Later, he confessed to DRI sleuths he picked the package inside the Spicejet aircraft after boarding the flight in Madurai. “We suspect the person who left the packet inside the flight travelled in the plane during its international route from Colombo to Madurai,” a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence official said.