Number of Passengers Caught Smuggling Gold in Their Rectums

Officials in Bangladesh are sending the message that no stone will be left unturned when it comes to rooting out couriers of contraband.

Authorities at Shahjalal International Airport (DAC) in Bangladesh say the latest passenger to get caught attempting to smuggle gold into the country went to great lengths to conceal his contraband. According to the Daily Mail, after being challenged by border control agents, the would-be gold mule arriving on a flight from Dubai International Airport (DXB) admitted to hiding eight gold bars weighing 400 grams in his rectal cavity. The alleged smuggler was taken to an airport toilet where nearly $60,000 worth of precious metal was eventually recovered.

Customs officials in Bangladesh say the unidentified smuggler was not alone in his attempt to hide contraband at the border. In the last two weeks alone, authorities uncovered three other very similar schemes.

On May 10, X-rays taken at the behest of authorities revealed three gold bars in the rectum of a different passenger who was described as being “in a great deal of pain.” On May 2, a 23-year-old flyer arriving at the airport on a flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) was nabbed with six gold bars that he had reportedly just removed from his body in an airport restroom. Acting on a tip, customs agents also recovered an amount of gold worth more than a half million dollars from the lavatory of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft last week. The gold recovered from the toilet was parceled in small amounts and each wrapped in several plastic bags.

The messy business of gold smuggling is a growing problem in the region. Officials at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) in Sri Lanka say there were more than 70 gold smuggling arrests at the airport last year. The tally includes an incident in December when customs officials noticed a passenger at border control who was “finding it difficult to walk.” Officers determined that four gold bars hidden in his rectum were the source of his difficulty. In July of 2015, an Etihad security chief in charge of operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai was nabbed by police after allegedly tipping off gold smuggling passengers that they were being watched by authorities at the airport.

[Photo: Bangladesh Customs Intelligence/Facebook]