Man arrested at IGI during a gold smuggling bid

Officials found that the plastic cap of a beverage bottle had been tampered with. Inside it was a small cylindrical piece of gold, crafted to fit snugly within the cap, in an attempt to make it difficult to detect

Published on: Oct 27, 2025, 04:52:10 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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An Indian national has been arrested at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport by the customs department for trying to smuggle in gold worth ₹18 lakh inside the cap of a plastic water bottle, officials said on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Saturday when the passenger arrived at Terminal-3 (File photo)

The incident occurred on Saturday when the passenger arrived at Terminal-3 via Air India flight AI-996 from Dubai. Based on a tip-off, customs said, an official discreetly followed him from the flight gate before being stopped at the exit of the green channel.

“The man was asked to undergo a baggage and physical inspection. During an X-ray of his baggage, officers noticed suspicious images and decided to examine his belongings further,” said a customs official.

Upon carrying out a detailed inspection, officials found that the plastic cap of a beverage bottle had been tampered with. Inside it was a small cylindrical piece of gold, crafted to fit snugly within the cap, in an attempt to make it difficult to detect.

“A cylindrical piece of gold was concealed under the cap of a PET bottle in a very ingenious manner which the passenger was carrying. The total weight of the gold was found to be 170 grams, which is worth ₹18 lakh. Though the quantity was small, the concealment technique was novel,” the senior customs official said.

The recovered gold and the passenger have been arrested and will be investigated further, officials added.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More

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