Pune: The customs authorities recovered gold worth Rs 90 lakh in the form of paste from a woman in her early 20s at the Pune airport on Sunday.The woman, identified as Dantas Juenca John, an Indian national and a resident of Mumbai, had come to Pune from Dubai on a SpiceJet flight.“A personal search of the woman yielded four polythene bags which contained gold in a semi-solid form. The three pouches had been attached to her waist with the help of a belt. The woman’s suspicious appearance made us check her,” a customs official told TOI.The total weight of the gold was 2,791.43 grams valued at Rs 90,44,235, the official added.“We have been on the highest alert at Pune airport for 15 days before Diwali . The festive season witnesses many attempts of smuggling. We have been able to nab all of them. The alertness level will continue until the end of the year,” the official said.The authorities were planning to increase the women personnel at the airport as in many cases the carriers of smuggled gold were women.“ The gold paste technique is the latest. Smugglers’ way of carrying gold keeps changing, but we are on alert,” the official added.“The woman, in her statement, agreed to possession, carriage, concealment and recovery of the gold. Further investigations are on,” an official said.People are lured into jobs in the Middle East and then used to smuggle gold, a customs official told TOI.

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