Police in India arrest Dubai passenger who hid 1kg gold inside himself

Police in a southern Indian city have arrested a traveller from Dubai who concealed nearly 1kg of gold in his rectum.

The passenger arrived in Kerala's Kannur airport from the UAE on a GoAir flight with 972g of the flattened precious metal stashed inside his body.

Officials at the Air Intelligence Unit extracted the gold from the individual, according to tweet from the state agency on Tuesday.

Another passenger was caught carrying almost 1.5kg of gold on the same flight, officials said. They did not disclose how that traveller had attempted to conceal the 1.47kg of pounded metal.

The following day, the customs office seized 386g of gold from a passenger who landed in Kzhikode on an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah. Officials said the gold was hidden in the traveller's undergarments in an attempt to avoid declaring it.

It was the seventh attempt at smuggling gold or foreign currencies into India from a Gulf country reported by the Customs Preventive Commissionerate in Cochin this week, with gold also seized from a traveller flying in from Muscat on Sunday.

The goods and services tax on gold in India is 18 per cent making smuggling the precious metal into the country profitable for illegal networks.

In recent months, police have uncovered gangs and caught passengers attempting to bring gold into the country.

Over the last week, several airports in India have reported seizing gold between 300gm and 3kg stuffed into capsules in paste form or lined inside underwear.

In a major investigation by customs officials in Kerala, 30kg of gold worth Dh7 million was seized after being found hidden in cylindrical locks this year.

UAE and Indian officials said they were working to trace the crime syndicate.

Customs officials said travellers returning to India often mask the gold in chocolate boxes, purses, inside umbrellas and pens to evade taxes.