Media release

Mangaluru, Nov 4: Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Mangaluru International Airport here seized 1166.5 grams of gold valued at Rs. 34,17,845 found concealed in one of the toilets on Friday, November 3.

Specific information received by the DRI here showed that some unidentified passenger who had arrived by SpiceJet flight No SG60 from Dubai to Mangaluru International Airport Friday night had dropped a packet containing gold of foreign origin brought by him inside one of the toilets situated next to the immigration area of international arrivals with a plan that the said packet containing gold would be retrieved later on by some cleaning staff having access to the said Toilet.

Acting on the said information, the officers of DRI Mangaluru regional unit rushed to the airport immediately and conducted a thorough search.

During the course of the search operation, a small packet containing some metal objects wrapped in black insulation tapes was recovered from a drainage outlet of one of the toilets. On opening the said packet, the same was found to contain 10 numbers of gold tola bars of foreign origin.

The total weight of the bars recovered was found to be 1166.500 grams and they were made of 24 Carat purity gold and the total current market value of the bars id Rs 34, 17,845.

Further investigation in the case is in progress to identify and nab the culprit passenger.