Two men have been caught trying to smuggle in gold worth nearly Rs 1 crore at the Kempegowda International Airport here, customs officials said.
The men, both from Kozhikode, Kerala, had turned the yellow metal into a paste, packed it into pouches and concealed them in custom-stitched underwear, officials said.
The men are thought to have acted independently of each other.
The first man to be caught was a 24-year-old who arrived on May 6. He allegedly tried to smuggle in 966.1 grams of gold worth Rs 50.08 lakh. The second person, aged 26, flew in on Sunday, carrying 918.01 grams of gold, worth about Rs 47.31 lakh, officials said.
Both fliers travelled from Abu Dhabi, UAE. They were identified and frisked following a tip-off from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Bengaluru. The first red flag was their unusual underwear.
Customs officials arrested both men, seized the gold and launched an investigation.
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