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​Two Men Caught Smuggling £278k Worth Of Gold And Cash Under Wigs

​Two Men Caught Smuggling £278k Worth Of Gold And Cash Under Wigs

Magroob Akbarali and Zubair Hassan Rafiyutheen were arrested at southern India's Chennai International Airport on 21 March

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Two men were caught smuggling gold and cash worth more than $382,000 into an airport in India, having cunningly popped the goods under their wigs to conceal them.

Magroob Akbarali and Zubair Hassan Rafiyutheen were arrested at southern India's Chennai International Airport on 21 March after arriving into the country from Dubai.

The suspects were stopped at the airport's exit after their unusual hairstyles raised suspicions.

SWNS

Officials then discovered that the men were wearing wigs, which were hiding two packets of gold paste - a relatively new way of smuggling the precious metal - that weighed 698g.

In footage, officials can be seen peeling back the men's fake hair to reveal black parcels stuffed with cash and gold paste, which had been glued to their heads.

SWNS

They also recovered gold from their socks and rectum.

The cash, gold and other illicit items can be seen being laid out on the counter, showing just how much the duo had attempted to sneak through the airport.

Air Customs officials seized gold and foreign currency worth a total of $382,943278,418).

SWNS

According to a 2019 article from Indian newspaper The Tribune, carrying gold in paste form is a method that has been adopted by smugglers hoping to dodge metal detectors and x-ray machines at airports.

An unnamed official from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said: "Smugglers first convert yellow metal into powder and then produce its compounds in paste form. Around 700 gms of gold can be retrieved from every 1,000 gms of paste by undertaking a chemical procedure.

"Involvement of some prominent jewellers and gold dealers across big cities cannot be ruled out. We are trying to identify potential end-users so as to break the nexus between smugglers and jewellers."

SWNS

Recently, someone else attempted to smuggle blocks of cocaine by concealing them in a hollowed-out watermelon - which she tried to pass off as her pregnant belly.

The 38-year-old woman, who was not named, was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking in the Brazilian municipality of Guaratingueta on 30 November last year.

The woman was on a tour bus heading to the city of Rio de Janeiro, some 259 kilometres (161 miles) away, when passengers found her supposed pregnant belly suspicious and alerted police.

They then found that the woman was not in fact pregnant, and had actually strapped the rind of half a watermelon to her body, which was filled with 2 kilogrammes (4.4 lbs) of cocaine paste wrapped up in four 'bricks'.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: World News, News, India