The customs officials at Chennai airport seized six gold biscuits, weighing 760 gm, from two traders who arrived in Chennai from Colombo on Thursday night. “The traders were found carrying gold biscuits packed in polythene bag stuffed in their anus,” a senior customs official said.
The two, identified as B.Ismail Harif and M.I.Nizamuddin from Ramanathapuram, were regular travellers engaged in taking clothes from Chennai to Colombo for business.
On Thursday night when they arrived they tried to walk through the green channel saying that they had nothing to declare. But customs officials, on suspicion, detained the duo and did a body scan on them. It was found that they were carrying gold biscuits.
On Friday morning with the help of a medical team, customs officials, took the biscuits out of their body.The two later told the officials that they were offered Rs 1000 to carry one biscuit.
In another incident, the customs official seized 235 live star tortoises, worth over Rs. 3.5 lakh from a Lankan trader who was going to Colombo from Chennai on Thursday night.
“This is the first time airport customs are detaining a Lankan national for trying to smuggle star tortoises,” the customs official said.The arrested Lankan was identified as Mohamed Murzil from Jaffna.