The accused were intercepted by the narcotics cell of Delhi Police.(Representational)
Customs officials have arrested two men for allegedly smuggling gold and iPhones worth over Rs 16 lakh into the country, according to an official statement.
The accused were part of a greater nexus and were involved in taking over and transporting smuggled gold, electronic items and foreign origin cigarettes from Lucknow international airport to Delhi, it said.
They were intercepted on Wednesday by the narcotics cell of Delhi Police. After they found these two men carrying smuggled gold in paste form, Delhi Police personnel informed officials of the customs (preventive), Delhi.
"A paste like substance suspected to be gold paste was recovered from them which was stitched in the belt and bottom margins of two jeans they were carrying. Upon extraction gold weighing 283.99 gms valued at Rs 13,25,750 was recovered from the paste," the statement issued by the customs (preventive) said.
Four new iPhones, valued at around Rs three lakh were also recovered from the two, it said. These iPhones were smuggled into the country by other members of a syndicate of which they are said to be a part.
"Preliminary investigations have revealed smuggling of contraband to the tune of Rs 1.06 crore by the accused during the last one month," the statement said.
They were arrested by the customs officers on Wednesday evening for violation of provisions of the Customs Act 1962 and have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days, it said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)