The Department of Revenue Intelligence busted a gold smuggling ring in which 29 passengers who arrived at Madurai International airport on various flights were found to have concealed several grams of the precious metal in their rectums.

In total, 10.937 kilograms of gold worth nearly Rs 3 crore (Rs 2,97,93,859 to be precise) was recovered from 46 passengers who arrived from Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai. Not all of it was concealed in the courier’s rectums, some were found in hand baggage and checked-in luggage.

Acting on a tip-off from the Chennai zonal unit, DRI officials from Chennai and Thoothukudi launched a crackdown and first intercepted 91 passengers arriving in Madurai from Sri Lanka on Spicejet and Air Lanka flights on October 8. On examining them, the officials learned of the modus operandi that the gold couriers were employing.

It was discovered that smugglers were using frequent flyers to conceal gold ranging from 30 to 600 grams in their rectums or cleverly hidden in their hand baggage or check-in baggage. The passengers would then use the green channel at the airport to walk out of the airport without declaring anything at customs.

The DRI deployed a special team of officers to keep an eye on suspects of various smuggling gangs, said a statement released by the department. Based on the information collected, the officials examined several passengers of which 29 were found to have been carrying gold in their rectums, another eight passengers were found concealing the precious metal in their stroller bags and the remaining nine passengers abandoned the gold on seeing the DRI officials.

Madurai airport was opened to international flights a few years ago to facilitate ease of travel for the large number of labourers who work in West Asian and South East Asian countries. But DRI and customs officials have been increasingly finding that the airport has been used a conduit by smugglers to ferry couriers back and forth as frequent fliers.

India is the second-largest consumer of gold in the world and its imports rose 95 per cent in July to $2.1 billion. As recently as August, the government put the precious metal in the restricted list of imports, meaning importers would need prior permission from the government. The restriction was introduced after $1 billion worth of gold was imported between July1 and August 21 from South Korea, a country with which India has a free-trade agreement (FTA), according to a report in the Economic Times.

Outside the conditions of the FTA, gold imports attract as much as 10 per cent customs duty.