A Sri Lankan customs official displaying the gold. Photo / Supplied
A Sri Lankan customs official displaying the gold. Photo / Supplied
A man has been arrested at a Sri Lankan airport after he was allegedly caught trying to smuggle about $41,000 worth of gold hidden in his rectum.
The 45-year-old Sri Lankan man was arrested on Sunday after he was spotted "behaving suspiciously" at the departure lounge at the Bandaranaike internationalairport, near Colombo, where he was due to catch a flight to India, according to the AFP.
"He was called for a thorough screening after customs officers noticed him walking with difficulty and appearing to be in pain," spokesman Sunil Jayaratne said.
Jayaratne said officials found about 904 grams of gold wrapped in black plastic sheets had been hidden in the man's backside.
Among the items recovered were seven yellow "biscuits" and six chains, with a combined value of about $38,000. The contraband was seized and the man was released after paying a fine, according to AFP.
Jayaratne said the man was a courier for an organised smuggling ring. He also said smuggling was usually carried out as part of money-laundering schemes or to transfer proceeds from drug sales.
And that's not the first time that's happened this year.
In February, a man was apprehended at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India after metal detectors revealed he was concealing gold inside his rectum.
The gold had been wrapped in black plastic sheets. Photo / Supplied
The 36-year-old smuggler, originally from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, had arrived from Singapore when officials noticed something unusual in his body.
He was taken in for questioning by customs staff who flagged his checked luggage after they spotted what appeared to be LED lamps inside his bag.
Officials opened the lamps and discovered eight gold bars, weighing roughly 800 grams, hidden inside the back covers of the lighting equipment.
Upon further questioning, the suspect was asked whether he had more gold, and, after submitting to a metal detector screening, officials found an additional 12 gold bars, weighting 1.2 kilograms, concealed inside the man's rectal cavity.
In all, the man was hiding two kilograms of gold, worth about $124,000.
