Customs foil attempt to smuggle gold cables worth Rs. 2.5 million

by Kurulu Kariyakarawana

The trend of smuggling gold out of the country took a new turn when a Sri Lankan attempted to smuggle three gold cables worth Rs. 2.5 million inserted in the edges of his bag was foiled by the Customs at the Bandaranaike International Airport yesterday.

Customs Media Spokesman Director Leslie Gamini said this was the latest modus operandi adopted by people to smuggle gold out of the country under the very nose of the law enforcement authorities.

Smuggling gold out of the country began when some suspects tried to swallow nuggets of gold and pass the Customs checking counters. When six such cases were detected the suspects adopted a different method by hiding the gold in their rectums and pass the surveillance points. This too became the trend after 10 similar attempts were foiled by Customs officials during the past few months.

In the latest detection, customs sleuths found that three cables made out of gold weighing around 496 grammes had been inserted into the outer line of the bag and sewed. The attempt failed when the baggage was sent through the X-ray machine and the contraband was found.

The suspect had attempted to leave for Bangalore, India on the UL171 flight. The Customs forfeited the gold and imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on the suspect, Director Gamini said.