Chennai Air Customs on Sunday said it had seized gold worth Rs.7.5 lakh stuck under a medical bandage on a passenger's back.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport, said that Ahamed Anas who had arrived from Dubai by an Air India Express flight, was intercepted at the exit gate by an alert customs officer. The interception was based on an abnormal bulge on Ahamed Anas’ upper back.

On personal search, it was noticed that a big size medical bandage was stuck on his upper back. On removing the bandage, two packets of gold paste weighing 168 grams were recovered. On extraction, 147 grams of 24K purity gold valued at Rs. 7.5 lakh was recovered and seized under Customs Act.

On Saturday, two passengers, identified as Jumma Khan and Mohamed Rafi who arrived from Dubai by Air India, were intercepted at the exit. On their personal search, four packets of gold paste in plastic pouches, weighing 176 grams, were found to be ingeniously stitched to the bottom portion of their jeans. On extraction, 142 grams of gold of 24K purity, valued at Rs 7.23 lakh, was recovered and seized under Customs Act.

In November, the airport customs officials arrested five persons involved in a gold smuggling racket including a housekeeping staff at the airport. The staff member was seen going to the toilet and was followed by the customs authorities. He was caught when he retrieved two black bundles from the dustbin inside the bathroom and upon opening the bundles, the authorities recovered three packets of gold paste weighing two kilograms. Upon extraction, 1.91 kgs of gold worth almost Rs 1 crore was recovered, according to the customs authorities. Five persons, including the housekeeping supervisor, were arrested in connection with this case.

(With IANS inputs)