CHENNAI: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sleuths seized 6.6kg gold bars worth 1.78crore from the toilet of an Air India Express flight that arrived from Singapore via Trichy at 2pm at Chennai airport on Monday. The gold was packed in eight small parcels.
Officials suspect that either a passenger or an airport staff planned to pick up the contraband in Trichy or in Chennai.
Sources said the seizure was made following a tip off. “DRI sleuths boarded the plane after passengers disembarked. The smugglers may have boarded with the gold from Singapore and must have hidden it inside the toilet when the aircraft was in the air,” said an official. Two passengers have been detained under suspicion for questioning.
A few such attempts have been busted by DRI in April and June.
