Customs at BIA nab Five men carrying Rs.107Mn worth gold gel in rectum

• The suspects had been identified as traders from Colombo and suburbs 

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

A bizarre yet innovative way to smuggle gold out of the country was thwarted yesterday when Customs at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) nabbed five local men trying to carry over five kilos of gold in a gel form inserted in their rectums. 

 Officials of the Customs Narcotic Control Unit on a tip off searched five local men who were bound for Chennai, India on an IndiGo Airline SE 1176 flight around 1.30pm yesterday at the Departure Terminal.   

According to Customs Spokesman Senior Director Sudaththa Silva the suspects who had been identified as traders from Colombo and suburbs were detected trying to leave the country with contraband filled in plastic capsules inserted in their person.   

Following the due procedure, the Customs officials managed to retrieve 15 such capsules that altogether bore 5, 650grams (5.65Kg) of a gel like solution that contained gold. The contraband was valued at Rs.107 million.   

A detective attached to the Customs Narcotic Control Unit told the Daily Mirror the suspects have come up with an innovative method to smuggle gold by mixing it with a solution.   

“The crushed gold biscuits had been mixed with a gel like solution so that it is easy to contain in plastic capsules, which could be easier to insert in a sensitive area like the human rectum. Once the items are retrieved after a successful smuggle the perpetrators will burn the solution to extract gold particles,” he said.