Smuggler caught at airport with four gold bars in his socks and eight up his bottom

Customs officials arrested a 50-year-old man at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, southern India, and seized 1.4 kilos of gold from his possession on Wednesday morning. The man, identified as Abdullah Mohammad Riyaz, said he had taken a flight from Chennai to Dubai only to stay there for three hours before he took another flight back to Hyderabad.

Sources said Riyaz, who had travelled abroad at least 100 times probably to carry out similar operations, was found carrying four gold biscuits weighing 116 gm each in his socks and eight similar gold biscuits in his rectum, with a market value of Rs4 million (£49,000, $74,000).



Stating that they were still interrogating Riyaz, the Customs officials said they had received a tip-off about the smuggling attempt. “We intercepted him when he tried to exit through the Green Channel,” the officials said, adding that after they recovered the gold biscuits from the socks, Riyaz said that was all he had on his person.

The Customs officials, however, got suspicious when they saw Riyaz’s discomfort while sitting, which prompted them to conduct an intense body search leading to the recovery of the gold biscuits from his rectum. With the duty payable on the gold amounting to Rs1 million, the officials arrested him under Section 135 of the Customs Act since the duty evaded was more than Rs500,000.