IGI Airport Gold Haul: IGI Customs Unearth Hidden Gold Worth Rs 72.72 Lakhs in Passenger’s Baggage

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A passenger traveling domestically from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, to New Delhi was intercepted by customs officials at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Friday, following an intelligence tip-off. The airport security recovered 13 pieces of yellow metal, believed to be foreign-origin gold, weighing nearly 999 grams. The estimated value of the seized gold is approximately Rs 72.72 lakhs. Authorities have confirmed that further investigation is ongoing.

The passenger, a 37-year-old man, was flagged by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs after suspicious images were detected in his baggage during an X-ray screening. Customs officials brought the passenger to the arrivals area for further inspection, where they uncovered the gold.

This incident follows a similar case on Thursday, where customs officials intercepted three male passengers traveling from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to New Delhi. The passengers, holding Uzbekistani passports, admitted to concealing eight irregularly shaped gold pieces in their rectum cavities.

In another case a week earlier, customs officials recovered a silver-colored gold bar weighing 117 grams, concealed inside a cream box, from a passenger traveling from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to New Delhi. Delhi Customs posted updates on X, confirming that investigations are underway in all cases.