Gold fingering
Gold also comes in compound or paste form when the solid version is dissolved in aqua regia, a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. When not in its natural state, gold cannot be detected by a metal detector.
Gold smugglers turn the precious stone into a compound to easily conceal its transport and avoid detection at the airport. This
modus, meant to avoid paying the 18 percent service tax on such goods, is common among Indians who smuggle gold into their country. However, customs police in India are aware of the technique.
Gold smuggling poses a challenge to both Indian smugglers and customs police. The smugglers have to be creative in concealing the compound gold, while the police should be vigilant of suspicious travelers who may be carrying concealed gold.
In one of the latest interceptions made by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) at the Trivandrum International Airport in Kerala state, 550.76 grams of compound gold were disguised as E plates in the transformer of a toy microwave oven and a toy play house carried by a passenger coming from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
With such extraordinary vigilance, no wonder AIU agents foiled one year ago a man who tried to smuggle 1.25 kilos of compound gold hidden in a wig at the Cochin International Airport also in Kerala.
The suspect named Noushad who arrived from Sharjah, UAE, shaved off the hair from the top of his head and put the contraband wrapped in a black plastic bag there. He then covered it with the wig. However, Noushad was acting suspicious, so AIU agents interrogated him until he confessed.
Smuggling compound gold remains rampant in India with smugglers hiding it in their underwear and rectum.
Last 13 October, a man was caught with 972 grams of compound gold when he arrived at the Kannur International Airport from Dubai.
The smuggler hid the contraband inside his rectum. But customs authorities are familiar with the common smuggling modus and are used to extracting the contraband using fingers and tools, however messy and stinky it may be.
The Twitter page of the AIU is filled with posts of compound gold seized from smugglers. Credit goes to the watchful eyes of customs agents and their fingers that never get tired of doing the dirty job of rectal recovery.