Officials seize antique gold coins, paste from fliers, 2 detained

They were checking the passengers who arrived from Colombo and intercepted Yogaprashath (27), from Sri Lanka on suspicion of carrying gold. On search of his check-in luggage, 14 gold coins suspected to be antique were found concealed in a pouch with five rupee coins.

Customs officials found that Yogaprashath had cleverly coated the coins with a special oil used during coin making to camouflage it with the five rupee coins. After washing the coating off, officials realised that they were actually gold coins. They recovered 14 gold coins weighing about 422 gram valued Rs 16.8 lakh.

In another incident, the officials intercepted Niamudeen (36) of Ramanathapuram who arrived from Dubai. On persistent questioning, he admitted having concealed gold in a form of paste inside the rectum. On search, the officials recovered two bundles and on extraction 368 gram of gold valued Rs 14.6 lakh was recovered and seized.

Both of the passengers have been detained for further inquiry.