Sri Lankan passenger hid two kg of gold in stomach, rectum
By Express News Service | Published: 04th October 2017 02:53 AM |
Last Updated: 04th October 2017 09:49 AM | A+A A- |
Finally, around 2 kg of gold was recovered from the stomach and rectum of the Sri Lankan passenger who was detained by the customs officials on his arrival at the Vizag airport
VISAKHAPATNAM: Finally, around 2 kg of gold was recovered from the stomach and rectum of the Sri Lankan passenger who was detained by the customs officials on his arrival at the Vizag airport. The doctors of King George Hospital, where the passenger was kept under observation for more than 24 hours, recovered 16 packets of gold weighing around 125 gm each. The passenger boarded a Sri Lankan Airways flight on Colombo and landed at Vizag airport at around 9.30 am on Sunday. Growing suspicious over the ‘awkward gait’ of the passenger, the customs officials detained him. He was shifted to KGH for full body scanning and the reports confirmed that he was carrying gold in his stomach and rectum.
A team comprising a radiologist, a general surgeon, a physician and other doctors recovered the gold packets from the stomach of the passenger through natural excretion method by administering laxatives. According to the sources, the customs officials recovered two gold packets from the passenger on Sunday itself. On Monday and Tuesday, the KGH doctors recovered 14 gold packets.
Asked about how the accused managed to carry the gold packets, KGH superintendent G Arjuna said,” The passenger seems to be a professional smuggler. He might have cut the gold bars into small pieces of 1 to 1.5 inch each and packed them in 16 black polythene packets neatly stitched with a sliding tape which might have helped him swallow them. The sliding tape also ensured the free movement of the packets through the stomach and rectum.”
Lankan team to interrogate man
Sources from the Customs Department revealed that a team from Sri Lankan customs officials had arrived in the city and who would accompany the officials here during the interrogation of the passenger. “After gathering all the details, we will register cases and proceed further as per the norms,” a customs official said on the anonymity.
80 caught in last 3 years
In the last three years, customs officials have caught nearly 80 persons at Vizag airport on smuggling charges with the recovery of gold worth R10 crore. Most landed in the city airport from Dubai and other places. Last year, the Vizag customs officials seized
4.5 kg gold from a group of seven.
