In another large seizure of gold from an airport, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Saturday arrested 27 passengers who were trying to smuggle over 15 kg of gold inside their bodies. All of them were travelling on a Jet Airways flight from Singapore to Delhi, sources said. All the arrested persons hail from South India. Each passenger was carrying about 600 grams of gold in their rectum. A senior official said the DRI was acting on specific inputs. Ever since restrictions were imposed on the import of gold, smuggling has gone up considerably. According to a note prepared for Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the DRI had highlighted that, in a breakaway from the past, the consignments are carried by multiple carriers to minor airports to facilitate easy passage and do away with the risk of the entire stock being seized. There have also been cases when gold was found concealed under seats or inside bags in international flights that operate between domestic destinations. The same DRI note also stated that last year, out of 650 kg of gold seized, almost 250 kg was seized from minor airports with relatively low surveillance. The note also mentioned that the technique of concealing gold inside the body is still the preferred method of smuggling, making detection tough. At major airports, approximately 200 kg was smuggled by concealing it in the aircraft, suspected to be with the help of airline officials. According to Finance Ministry data, the projected demand of 1,000 tonnes for this financial year has now been revised to 850 tonnes.
