COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan man has been arrested for trying to smuggle gold bars into the country in his rectum.
The 42-year-old was intercepted at Bandaranaike International Airport after Customs officers noticed him “walking suspiciously”, Customs spokesman Leslie Gamini told media.
His flight had arrived from Singapore early on Tuesday morning.
The man was discovered to have four bars, totalling 400g of gold, inside his body. Its value was estimated to be about 2 million Sri Lankan rupees (NZ$20,000).
The man had been “finding it hard to walk”, Gamini said.
He told Customs officials he was a coordinating secretary at Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Post, Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs.
Officials told the BBC more than 70 people had been arrested for smuggling gold into Sri Lanka this year.
