It’s been tough times across the globe this year, particularly across the tourism industry, but there’s one group of people we haven’t thought of – smugglers! They must really be feeling the pinch, as flights have been grounded and even stricter border controls.
Recently, a passenger travelling from Dubai who arrived in Kerala, India, was found to be attempting to transport almost a kilogram of gold out of the country – hidden in his body.
The man flew in on ‘Go Air’, with four pieces of the shiny stuff rammed up his…well.
The incident was tweeted by the Commissionerate of Customs in Cochin, who said that a further 1.47 kilograms of gold was ‘extracted’ from a second suspect.
A third man who arrived at a different Indian airport was found to have just under 400grams of gold hidden in his underwear (seems like he got a better deal than the others).
According to ‘The National’, these are just some of the seven reported cases of gold smuggling in Cochin over the last week, all of which were linked to the Middle East.
The tax on gold in India is 18%, meaning smuggling can be quite a well-paid gig. The UAE is now the fourth-largest gold-importing country in the world.
India imports around 200 tons of it a year. Guess these guys got a bit of a ‘bum deal’ this time.