Airport staff held with gold dust worth ` 17 lakh

A gold smuggling attempt by a passenger in connivance with an airport staffer was busted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Saturday when the latter was caught with the precious metal hidden in her armpit.On the basis of specific intelligence, the Mumbai Customs intercepted a cleaning staffer. “The search led to recovery of 420 gram gold dust worth Rs 17 lakh concealed in her armpit,” the agency revealed on Sunday.

The probe revealed that an unidentified female passenger arriving from Dubai had dropped the gold dust in the dustbin of the toilet. The parcel was picked by the cleaning staffer who concealed it in her armpit but was intercepted by officials. The gold dust is difficult to trace in handheld detectors and scanners and hence smugglers are trying to sneak in the precious metal in dust form.