Delhi customs seize gold hidden in corsets from Sharjah flight

The incident is the latest in a string of attempts by travellers to avoid paying nearly 13 per cent import tax on precious metal

Indian customs officials confiscated gold worth $350,000 from three passengers off a flight from Sharjah. Photo: Delhi Customs

Customs officials in New Delhi have confiscated gold worth 29 million rupees ($350,000) concealed inside body shapers carried by three passengers.

The smugglers arrived from Sharjah on October 28, where officials checked their baggage and found seven rectangular-shaped pouches containing chemical paste.

A body shaper is a wide, stretchable belt meant to be wrapped around the abdomen that can be used in slimming.

The paste hidden inside them was found to contain gold and pouches weighed nearly 8 kilograms.

“The gold in paste form was concealed in seven pouches kept inside pockets of body shapers, kept in hand bags,” Delhi Customs said.

About 6.67 kilograms of gold was extracted from the paste which was moulded into 19 rectangular bars.

The three people were arrested and an investigation has begun.

The incident is the latest in a string of attempts by travellers to avoid paying the nearly 13 per cent import tax on gold.

Confiscations at Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala airports from people travelling from the Gulf are common. Officers have discovered gold in a juicer, wrapped into belts, in mobile phones and under wigs.

Customs officials in Chennai in southern Tamil Nadu confiscated gold worth $20,800 hidden inside DVD players by a passenger arriving from Dubai on Sunday.

The gold, weighing 385 grams, was found when officers examined the passenger’s check-in baggage.

Chennai Customs reported a case on Saturday in which a passenger from Dubai was found with 525 grams of gold.