Man held after gold found hidden inside speaker

According to a statement from Customs, officers from the Air Intelligence Unit stopped Sadik Shaik (22) from Chittoor at the exit of the arrival hall based on suspicion that he was carrying gold. Shaik had landed here from Riyadh via Bahrain on a Gulf Air flight.

As his replies were evasive, they examined his checked-in baggage where they found a Bluetooth speaker. On closer inspection, they found gold concealed ingeniously inside the speaker.

According to the statement, there were 10 gold bars with foreign markings and one gold cut bar, totally weighing 1.1 kg. The gold was of 24 karat purity, estimated to be worth Rs 38 lakh, the statement added. It was seized under Customs Act, 1962, and the passenger was arrested.

In another instance, Customs officers stopped two passengers who were about to board an Air Asia flight to Malaysia on Sunday.

During searches, they found that the passengers were carrying foreign currency, including US dollars, euro and Malaysian ringgit worth Rs 8,35,520.

The currency was seized, the Customs added.