PUNE: The customs authorities on Thursday arrested a flyer at the city airport for trying to smuggle rhodium-plated and oxidized gold worth Rs 11 lakh into the country from Dubai.The passenger, identified as Shaikh Tarique Mahmood, had arrived at the Pune airport on a SpiceJet flight (SG-52). Apart from two oxidized gold biscuits, which had been cut into four small pieces, the authorities also recovered two more round-shaped gold pieces, which had carvings like that on currency coins, from the flyer.“The two gold pieces, recovered from his wallet, looked exactly like coins from a foreign country. It is suspected that the flyer carved them to look like normal coins to take them out of the airport without any hassles. They were coated with rhodium to give them silver look,” a customs official said.Besides, a gold key chain was also recovered from the suspect. “People who go to Dubai or any foreign country bring different souvenirs as gifts for their friends and relatives. In this case, a gold key chain was recovered, which was neatly packed to make it look like a small gift item. Even the key chain was plated with rhodium,” the official said.The catch at the Pune airport comes days after the Pune wing of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered gold worth Rs 95 lakh from two flyers at the Aurangabad airport. The passengers had collected the gold biscuits, weighing almost 3kg, from an Air India flight from Delhi to Aurangabad.“While we have been successful in catching hold of many people trying to smuggle gold, it is the ever-changing and evolving modus, which is quite interesting as well as concerning. They started with the rhodium-plated gold, switched to gold in form of a semi-solid paste and now they seem to be getting back to the rhodium-plated gold again. They tend to carve gold into several shapes and sizes to evade the customs,” another customs official said.“The gold recovered from Mahmood was seized under the considerable belief that the same was attempted to be smuggled into the country and hence, liable for confiscation under the provisions of the Customs Act. In his statement, the suspect has agreed to the same and further investigations are on,” the official added.There have been instances when the customs officials have recovered gold in form of diaper or jeans buttons. Also, gold have been given the shape of handles of the trolley bags too. August had seen the DRI recovering more than 80 gold biscuits worth over Rs 3 crore from a lavatory at the Pune airport. The gold in this case was hidden in smartphone covers.

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