Surat: Two persons who had concealed gold worth Rs 4.72 crore in their underwear were arrested at Surat Airport, police said on Sunday. 

The duo accused identified as Vipul Sheladiya and Abhay Kilaji had landed at the Surat Airport from a Sharjah flight. 

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials recovered around 6 kg of gold in bar-and-paste form.

Gold Kept Hidden In Underwear, Two Nabbed At Surat Airport

Both have been sent to judicial custody, officials said. 

DRI is now investigating if the accused are linked to any syndicate involved in gold smuggling. 

Authorities are now probing their past travel history.

Despite a reduction in customs duty on gold from 15% to 6% earlier this year, which was expected to curb illegal gold smuggling, there has been a surprising rise in major gold seizure cases.

Meanwhile, as part of its ongoing crackdown on gold and hawala smuggling, the Kerala Police have seized nearly 150 kg of gold, valued at Rs 81 crore, and registered 337 hawala cases, confiscating approximately Rs 123 crore over the past five years. 

In 2023, authorities at Kozhikode airport seized a total of 298 kilograms of gold worth nearly Rs 200 crore, with customs officials confiscating 270 kg and police seizing an additional 28 kg. The largest gold smuggling bust occurred in 2022, when 80 kg of gold was seized across 98 cases. In 2023, the number of cases dropped to 61, involving 49 kg of gold, and so far this year, 18 kg of gold has been seized.

Hawala fund detection reached its peak in 2023, with 94 cases involving Rs 39 crore uncovered. The previous year saw 67 cases worth Rs 35.5 crore, while in the current year, 67 hawala cases amounting to Rs 150 crore have already been detected.