Two men booked for smuggling 450gm gold at Delhi’s IGI

Two Indian passengers were caught at Delhi airport with 350g of gold hidden in modified water bottles, arriving from Jeddah and Doha.

New Delhi: Two Indian passengers were booked at the Indira Gandhi International airport on Wednesday for attempting to smuggle 233.5gm and 117gm of gold, respectively, Customs officials said on Thursday.

Officials said the two had arrived on different flights from Jeddah and Doha at Terminal 3.

They added that the two had arrived on different flights from Jeddah and Doha at Terminal 3.

“Detailed examination revealed a modus operandi wherein water bottles had been specially modified with fake bottoms concealing circular pieces of raw gold coated with silver colour and meticulously crafted to fit inside,” said an official.

The inspection led to the seizure of about 350gm of gold. “The case is significant for the novel concealment methodology detected and exposed by Delhi Airport Customs,” the official added.

A video shared by Customs officials shows an official slamming a blue water bottle on the floor, leading to the recovery of a circular bottom which later turned out to be gold.