A man spotted walking suspiciously was found to carrying gold in his rectum. (Representational)
An India-bound Sri Lankan has been arrested at the international airport in Colombo for allegedly trying to smuggle out about 1 kilogram of gold, worth around USD 30,000, by stuffing it in his rectum, a customs official said today.
The 45-year-old man was stopped yesterday by the authorities after he was "spotted walking suspiciously", the official said.
He was then subjected to close examination, following which, the precious metal was found to be "carefully packed in polythene bags and neatly inserted" (inside his rectum). "The bags contained gold biscuits, three pieces of gold, six gold jewellery articles and two silver-plated yellow gold jewellery articles, weighing about one kg," the officer was quoted as saying by the BBC Sinhala.
The precious metal was seized and a fine of one lakh Sri Lankan Rupee was also slapped on him, he said.
The arrested man had told the investigators that he was part of a smuggling ring, he said.
People flying out of Sri Lanka are allowed to carry a reasonable quantity of jewellery.
Last week, a Sri Lankan woman, who was also travelling to India, was arrested while trying to smuggle out 314.5 grams of gold pieces concealed in her rectum.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)