Gold worth ₹40L seized at airport

Kochi: Customs air intelligence unit (AIU) officials on Friday foiled yet another bid to smuggle gold into the country through the Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial). They seized 805g of gold in compound form from one Rishad, a Palakkad native, who arrived here from Abu Dhabi. The seized gold, once extracted, is expected to have a value of around Rs 40 lakh. “On the basis of profiling done by the officers of Cochin Customs AIU batch, Rishad was intercepted at the green channel. During the examination, four capsules of gold in compound form were found concealed in his body,” said a Customs official. The gold is converted into compound form by smugglers to try to beat the metal detectors. Pure gold is extracted from the compound once the smuggled contraband reaches the destination.