Lucknow, Jan 1 (IANS): In two separate incidents, the customs department of Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport have arrested two passengers attempting to smuggle 3.497 kg of gold, marking the biggest haul of the year 2023, according to officials at the Lucknow airport.

In the first incident, customs officials at the Lucknow airport discovered gold hidden inside a coffee machine, while in the second incident, gold in paste form was recovered from inside the rectum of another passenger. The total weight of the recovered gold was 3.497 kg, valued at around Rs 2 crore.

A video of the incident went viral on social media on Sunday, showing an official using a hammer to break the machine and a cutting tool to recover two cylindrical gold bars.

An official at the Lucknow airport clarified, “There were actually two incidents of gold smuggling on Saturday. One passenger was caught smuggling gold by hiding it in his rectum, while the second passenger was caught attempting to smuggle gold by hiding it in the coffee machine. Both passengers arrived on the Air India Express flight from Dubai.”

The Lucknow airport’s customs department has reportedly arrested over 100 passengers and seized around 255 kg of gold worth from smugglers since 2018.