BENGALURU: A 24-year-old model-cum-actor from the Tamil television industry was caught on Wednesday night at Kempegowda International Airport KIA ) while trying to smuggle gold worth Rs 15 lakh in her custom-tailored jeans . Customs officials suspect gold racketeers are using budding models and actors as mules to smuggle the yellow metal.Bengaluru customs officials say gold smuggling gangs have switched to innovative methods to sneak in the metal into the city. They have started recruiting aspiring actors and models as mules for gold smuggling, mainly from Gulf countries into Bengaluru, they add. These budding talents take up the job, as the remunerations offered by the gangs are very high.Sources with the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Bengaluru customs said Wednesday night’s incident is a classic example of the latest modus operandi. The young actor-model, whose identity hasn’t been divulged, landed at Bengaluru airport in an Etihad Airways flight (EY 236) from Abu Dhabi around 7.10pm. Following specific information about gold smuggling, an AIU team carried out passenger profiling of those who disembarked from the flight and found something suspicious about the woman.She was intercepted and questioned, but her answers weren’t convincing. Soon, a customs team, including women officers, frisked the model and found something unusual about the jeans she was wearing. Further inspection of the fabric revealed a part around the waist, in which was hidden a gold paste mix weighing around 887gm.Customs sleuths seized the waistband and melted the patch to find 450gm of gold estimated to be worth Rs 15 lakh. It is suspected that the TN-based actor smuggled the gold on the behest of an agent in Abu Dhabi with possible Bengaluru links. “Further probe is under way to establish the link between the her and the gold racketeers,” AIU sources added.

Stay updated with all the Bangalore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.