A passenger, who arrived on a flight fromRiyadh was arrested by Customs officials at Hyderabad Airport on Sunday for smuggling 14 gold bars valued at more than Rs 67 lakh into the country.

Based on prior specific information, a male passenger who arrived by flight GF-274 (Gulf Airlines) at 5:30 am was intercepted by the Customs Air Intelligence team.

A thorough check of the passenger’s baggage revealed 14 gold bars of 24-carat purity concealed inside the battery of an emergency light, Customs officials said.

The total weight of the gold bars recovered is 1287.6 grams which is valued at Rs 67,96,133. The smuggled gold has been seized by Customs and the passenger has been arrested under Indian Customs Act 1962.

Further investigation is in progress to unravel the wider smuggling network involved in the racket.

Gold smuggling is on the rise due the huge price difference of the precious metal in India and the abroad.

In a similar incident, on the basis of specific intelligence, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials had intercepted a male domestic passenger carrying gold paste in the form of 6 capsules at RGI Airport, Hyderabad on May 11.

The passenger was travelling from Hyderabad to Chennai on May 9, 2023.

The capsules were subject to heat treatment and gold weighing 2031.35 g of 99.5 per cent purity valued at Rs 1.3 crore was recovered.

It was learnt that these capsules were carried by an international transit passenger and handed over to this passenger through a small gap between the wall and the glass panel separating the international departure area and domestic departure area at the airport.

The gold has been seized and the passenger has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.