Chennai Air Intelligence Unit has busted a gold smuggling syndicate that reportedly smuggled 267 kilograms of gold worth ₹167 crore over the past two months.
According to a press release, a sales executive of the Airhub shop located in the transit/departure area of the Anna International Airport was intercepted by officers of the Chennai Air Intelligence Unit. During a search, three bundles containing gold in paste form were found concealed in his rectum. The bundles were received from a Sri Lankan transit passenger.
Further inquiry revealed that smugglers based out of Sri Lanka had rented the Airhub shop at the international departure of Anna International Airport through YouTuber Sabir Ali by entering into a contract with Vidvedaa PRG. The smuggling syndicate recruited a total of eight persons to receive gold in paste form at the shop or in the toilets from transit passengers. These individuals would then conceal the gold in their rectums and smuggle it out of the airport.
With this modus operandi, they successfully smuggled gold over the past two months.
The transit passenger who handed over the gold, along with the shop owner and other staff of the shop were arrested, remanded, and sent to judicial custody, the release said.
