Trichy: Gold smugglers have started adopting innovative methods by the day to conceal the yellow metal as was unearthed by customs authorities at the Trichy international airport on Wednesday. The air intelligence unit of customs seized 1.25 kilograms of 24 karat gold worth Rs 34 lakh from three passengers who concealed it in their anus after making it into egg shaped forms through certain processes.The modus operandi was to first powder the gold and then mix it with a powder of carbon to blacken it. A solvent was added to the mixture to give it a semi-solid jelly-like form. This was made into six eggs – which were concealed in the anus of the smugglers, while four more jellies were hidden in the sole of their shoes, officials said.Though the contraband was not detected by the machines, the customs authorities managed to prise out the information through repeated questioning on the basis of passenger profiling maintained by their offices. The accused, who arrived here by Air Asia flight AK 29 from Kuala Lumpur in the wee hours of the day, have been identified as Ryas Ahammed, Tameem Ansari and Zakir Hussain, all hailing from Chennai.When the yellow metal is in the form of a paste, the concealment will be hardly detected by machines like metal detectors. This is for the second time that Trichy customs authorities recovered gold attempted to smuggle in using this modus operandi, customs sources said. A passenger who arrived here from Colombo had used the same method some months ago. Customs officials said they were surprised by the ingenious ways adopted by passengers to smuggle gold. With the help of a goldsmith, the gold was segregated from the substance, the officials added.

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