Woman smuggling gold worth Rs 83L in body caught at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: A team of the customs department's air intelligence unit (AIU) apprehended a woman at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport on Tuesday after she was flagged through passenger profiling. Officials recovered 553 grams of gold, valued at Rs 83.3 lakh, concealed inside her body. The woman was placed under arrest.

According to the department, the passenger was intercepted after arriving at Terminal-2 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Ahmedabad. "Based on profiling using the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), a woman passenger was stopped by AIU officers while attempting to exit through the Green Channel," the customs department said in a release.

During examination, officers detected two oval-shaped capsules wrapped in black tape concealed in the woman's rectum. The capsules contained gold paste mixed with liquid chemicals, weighing 643.3 grams in gross weight.

After refining, officials recovered 553.1 grams of gold of 999.0 purity (24-carat). The recovered gold has a market value of Rs 83,29,234 and a tariff value of Rs 75,58,393, the release stated.

Customs officials said the gold bar was seized under provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, as the passenger attempted to smuggle the precious metal into India through body concealment without declaring it to customs authorities.

Authorities added that further investigation is underway to identify the source of the gold and its intended recipient.

What is APIS profiling?

APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) profiling is a pre-arrival risk assessment tool used by customs and immigration authorities. Airlines transmit passenger details —such as name, passport data, nationality, and flight information — to Indian authorities shortly after departure from a foreign airport. This data is analyzed before the aircraft lands to identify high-risk passengers based on travel patterns, routes prone to smuggling, intelligence inputs, and past records. Passengers flagged through APIS are discreetly intercepted on arrival, often at the Green Channel, for detailed checks. The system enables targeted enforcement, helping detect smuggling while reducing random checks on low-risk travellers.


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