6 gold bars retrieved from flight washroom

Trichy: Customs officials at the Trichy airport recovered six gold bars totalling 600g from the lavatory of a flight that arrived from Singapore on May 9.S Vetrivel, an airport staff member who assisted the customs department in retrieving the gold bars concealed beneath a washbasin, was felicitated by the commissioner of the customs department, Bharat Prakash, on Tuesday. Officials said the airport intelligence unit received a tip about gold being smuggled in the Singapore-Trichy flight. Though officers conducted an intensive search, they could not find the gold bars among the passengers or in the aircraft after its arrival. However, Vetrivel recovered the gold bars that were wrapped in black tape to evade detection. The contraband was valued at Rs 92.5 lakh. Vetrivel was also awarded a cash prize.