Overview
- Customs officers intercepted a passenger after he arrived from Jeddah via Doha on Sunday and found 467.09 grams of gold paste concealed inside his rectum.
- Officials processed the recovered paste into a 422.83-gram 24-carat gold bar valued at Rs 65,69,087 and seized the metal for evidence.
- The flyer was identified as 24-year-old Sarfaraz Mala of Godhra and was arrested under the Customs Act, 1962, with further investigation ongoing.
- Ahmedabad’s Air Intelligence Unit said officers acted on specific intelligence and targeted checks at arrivals, singling out Qatar Airways flight QR-534 for examination.
- Customs noted similar recent cases of internally concealed gold on Middle East–India routes, a pattern that may lead to continued intelligence-led screening and prosecutions.