Seven people have been arrested after they tried to smuggle some 5.5kg of gold from Dubai to India by converting the precious metal into paste before either swallowing or concealing it under their clothes.

Officials at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in India’s central Madhya Pradesh said that seven members of the alleged smuggling ring were caught red-handed right in the middle of their intricate operation, shortly after they disembarked an India-bound plane from Dubai early on Saturday.

The passengers, including one woman, went to great lengths to avoid detection. Officials say they recovered some of the cargo from the smugglers’ rectums, while the rest was stashed in their clothes, including undergarments.

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In their bid to trick customs officials, the suspects turned the gold into a kind of a paste and put it into capsules, so it would be easier to swallow or conceal.

The smugglers, who are said to be repeat offenders, were to fly to Mumbai later on Saturday, where they would likely sell the gold on the black market. The recovered haul is worth some $298,000.

While the preferred mode of transportation might be unusual in this particular case, gold smuggling in India is a common crime. In one of the biggest busts in May this year, officials seized 110kg of gold in Mumbai, which had been declared as brass metal in customs papers.

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