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An Indian was arrested at an airport in the Asian giant’s northeast as he attempted to smuggle a kilogram of gold paste he was hiding in his intestines, authorities said on Wednesday.
The smuggler was arrested on Monday while planning to travel to New Delhi, when a security guard at Imphal airport in Manipur state, north of the country, discovered “the presence of metal in the body cavity “.
Authorities subjected him to x-rays and found four capsules in his rectum containing a total of more than 900 grams of gold paste, worth about $ 56,664, according to a security service statement.
Demand for gold has peaked in recent months in India, due to the wedding season and preparations for the most important Hindu festivals which take place in late autumn.
Experts pointed out that the city of Manipur on the border with Bangladesh has become a major gateway for gold smuggling to India.
They pointed to the increase in gold smuggling to India, the world’s second largest consumer of precious metals, in recent years, in particular thanks to its transformation into paste.
As of August this year, authorities estimated the amount of gold smuggled into the country each year at 300 tonnes, which is missing from the government’s huge revenues.
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