CHENNAI: Two air passengers traveling from Kuala Lumpur were caught with 3 kg of smuggled gold worth over Rs 1.75 crore by DRI officials at Chennai International Airport on Sunday.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) authorities had received a tip off about movement of smuggled gold in the airport after which they coordinated with CISF and were keeping a vigil on the passengers coming from Malaysia and Singapore.

Based on a tip off, DRI secured two passengers - residents of Chennai who were returning from the Malaysian capital and searched them. Officials found the gold made into a paste and hid in secret compartments in their coats.

Since they had no explanation for the gold found on them, they were taken to the DRI headquarters in T Nagar for further investigation.