BENGALURU: A 25-year-old Tamil Nadu-based man arrived at Kempegowda International Airport (
KIA
) from
Dubai
with smuggled
gold
in his body and
iPhones
and China-made
drones
hidden in his
luggage
. Items worth Rs 75.1 lakh were seized from him by the Bangalore
Customs
.
Sources said Sathyan Sabapathy from Ramanathapuram town in TN, landed here in the early hours of Wednesday on an
Emirates
flight from Dubai. Following profiling of disembarking passengers, mainly those touching down from the Gulf, Customs officers noticed something suspicious about the behaviour of Sabapathy, an Indian passport holder.
The sleuths intercepted him and upon questioning the youngster became extremely nervous. Soon he was frisked and gold pieces weighing over 1.3 kg were found hidden inside the socks he was wearing. Further interrogation revealed he was carrying more gold in the form of paste concealed in his rectum. Later, he handed over three packets containing another 1.8 kg of gold. The seized low-grade gold was ascertained to be worth over Rs 63 lakh in the Indian market.
Drones worth Rs 6.6 lakhMachine scans and physical examination of Sabapathy’s luggage revealed more smuggled goods, including an iPhone 12 Max and four iPhone 12s, estimated to be worth Rs 5 lakh. The suspect had also hidden four drones inside the cavity of his hand luggage and they too were recovered. The China-made drones are worth Rs 6.6 lakh in the market, Customs sources added.
The passenger was booked for Customs duty evasion. Probe is under way to check if Sabapathy is part of a smuggling racket and the reason for his short trip to the Gulf.