A woman who was an air hostess working with Air India Express was arrested at the Kannur Airport in Kerala on Friday over charges of attempting to smuggle gold concealed in the human body. While in the Bombay airport, intelligence given by sources from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was obtained, and the accused, Surabhi Khatun, was found to have concealed 960 grams of gold inside her rectum.
Khatun was on duty as part of the cabin crew for the Air India Express flight from Muscat to Kannur on May 28. When conducting a normal security check to identify prohibited items, the official from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence at the airport noticed the concealed gold and acted accordingly.
The police and state security information recently recovered new five-hundred-gram gold items. Khatun was later taken to a magistrate, who repeated the charges against her and then took her to 14 days of judicial custody.
The initial findings of the investigations reveal that these may not have been Khatun’s maiden attempt in the gold smuggling racket. It is further noted that she had previously engaged in similar acts, overpowering the men by using her ability as an air hostess to milk them in the process.
The event has sparked worries about some criminals’ links to well-coordinated smuggling networks and the exploitation of airline personnel’s access to commit unlawful deeds. Law enforcement agencies are investigating the entire case to understand the modus operandi involved in the smuggling and the identity of other individuals involved in the practice.
The case has once again given law enforcement agencies a wake-up call that, however, much effort is made, the fight against the menace of smuggling gold remains a big challenge not only to economic security but also to the overall security of the nations.
Measures such as tight physical security checks and heightened awareness at airports and other points of entry are now recommended as the best way to deal with such incidents.
