Bhubaneshwar: Customs officials at the Biju Patnaik International Airport have recovered 34 gold bars worth Rs 19.5 lakh allegedly being smuggled by a passenger from Kuala Lumpur.

The recovered gold bars weigh close to 661.5 gram.

Officials of Air Intelligence unit of Customs intercepted Kabir Mohammed Bakr upon his arrival at the airport here late by an Air Asia flight on Monday night.

Acting on intelligence inputs, the Customs officials scanned the check-in luggage of Kabir in which the gold was found. The yellow metal was being carried in 33 screw-drivers that were designed to smuggle the gold and kept in a toolbox.

Additional 50 gram of gold was recovered from Kabir’s onboard luggage when he was put to an intensive search. It was wrapped with black adhesive tapes.

The man had arrived from Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia flight AK-31 a little after 11 pm. On Tuesday morning, he was taken into custody for further investigation.