CHENNAI: Customs officials detained a woman passenger and have launched a search for another person for smuggling gold in two separate incidents in Chennai airport and seized over 1.73 kg of gold worth over a crore.

The woman passenger is from Chennai and had hidden the gold in her inner garments, the airport sources said. The other passenger has escaped, according to the sources.

One of the flights came from Dubai on Saturday. It had a transit stop in Chennai before being diverted to New Delhi. Based on a tip-off, the Customs officials seized a parcel, kept under one of the seats in the flight. The officials found about 1.25 kg of gold in a paste form, in the parcel.

In the second incident, Customs officials detained a lady passenger who came from Singapore on Saturday evening. The officials checked her based on a tip-off and found that she was carrying five gold chains in her inner garments. The officials detained her for further interrogation.