Four-crore gold haul at Kerala airports; nearly two kilogram of gold hidden in sanitary pad, one crore rupees worth in baby’s diaper

MALAPPURAM/KOCHI: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials seized gold worth nearly four-crore rupees allegedly being smuggled through Karipur and Nedumbassery airports. The two consignments are suspected to have been part of the same operation.

At Karipur International Airport, DRI officials seized gold-containing material worth more than one crore rupees that was allegedly concealed inside the diaper of an eight-month-old baby and inside the body of the child’s father. The Kozhikode DRI team took into custody 34-year-old Muhammad Farooq, a native of Changaramkulam, who had arrived from Ras Al Khaimah with his three children on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip-off, DRI officials from Kozhikode intercepted Farooq while he was attempting to leave the airport and questioned him. A subsequent inspection led to the recovery of gold-containing material concealed in a specially wrapped packet inside the baby’s diaper. A body search of Farooq then led to the recovery of packets containing gold-containing material concealed inside his body.

At Nedumbassery airport, gold-containing material worth Rs 2.86 crore was seized from Shareefa Beevi after it was allegedly found concealed inside the sanitary pad she was wearing. The material weighed 1,955 grams. She had arrived from Ras Al Khaimah on an IndiGo flight. Shareefa was produced before the Angamaly court and remanded in Kakkanad Women’s Jail.

Baby’s mother arrested earlier

The mother of the eight-month-old baby had been arrested by the DRI at Nedumbassery airport earlier in connection with an alleged attempt to smuggle gold concealed inside a sanitary pad.
During her interrogation, the investigating team reportedly received information about the gold smuggling attempt through Karipur. Following this, the Kozhikode DRI team stepped up surveillance at Karipur from Monday.