MUMBAI, Feb 10 (TOI) : Directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) officials seized 8 kg gold worth Rs 2.3 crore concealed under a toilet seat inside the washroom of an aircraft at the international airport in Mumbai on Saturday.
Officials had information that gold was being smuggled in an Air India aircraft coming from Dubai. After the plane touched down, a search revealed gold hidden under the toilet seat. "Four gold bars weighing one kg each were strapped together. Another four bars were found tied separately," an official said.
Two passengers travelling on the flight have been detained, the officials said. The two are believed to be carriers and are likely to be arrested on Sunday.
The flight was supposed to go further on to Goa and then return to Mumbai before heading for Delhi, officials said. The carriers had apparently left behind the consignment inside the aircraft for their associates who would have boarded it on the domestic arm and taken them out, officials added.
DRI officials pointed out that smugglers often exploited Air India's practice of clubbing international routes with domestic ones using the same flight. One set of carriers travel from abroad, smuggle in gold and leave it hidden in the aircraft while another set boards the same flight on the domestic route and walks away with the consignment as Customs officials do not check those passengers.
The smuggled gold is then sold in the local market. The 10% rise in import duty on gold has triggered a spurt in smuggling.