Indian Customs detain 'smuggler' found with gold taped to bald head

Passenger on Abu Dhabi to Delhi flight held on suspicion of trying to avoid import duties

Delhi Customs released a video of an officer removing a wig from a passenger's head to reveal melted-down gold attached to his bald pate. Photo: Delhi Customs

Delhi Customs officials have detained a man who they say attempted to smuggle melted-down gold into India by taping it to his head under a wig.

The man was searched after he disembarked from a flight from Abu Dhabi, customs officials said in a tweet on Tuesday.

He was also found to have gold concealed elsewhere, they said.

A total of 630 grams of gold was seized. The passenger was held and further investigations are under way.

The incident is the latest in a string of attempts by travellers to avoid India's taxes on gold.

Seizures at Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala airports from people travelling from the Gulf have become common. Officers have discovered gold in a juicer, wrapped into belts and in mobile phones.

A number of people were arrested last year at Chennai International Airport for a similar smuggling attempt involving wigs.

Indian media last month reported that about three tonnes of gold has been seized in more than 2,500 cases of smuggling registered by Delhi Customs in 11 years. Most was confiscated at the capital city's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Although carrying gold on flights is not illegal, passengers must declare the quantity they are importing or exporting to and from India and present the correct documentation.

In 2021, Indian border officials in Chennai seized foreign currency worth $33,000 alongside gold valued at about $344,000. All photos: Chennai Customs

Officials seized foreign currency and gold hidden inside wigs, socks and underwear.

Chennai Air Customs made six arrests in connection with the operation to smuggle gold paste and cash packed tightly into parcels and concealed underneath hairpieces.

Men can import up to 20g of gold worth no more than 50,000 rupees ($671) duty free. Female passengers are allowed to bring in 40g with a value of up to 100,000 rupees without paying tax.

Travellers who want to bring more gold into India must declare it on arrival at border control and pay import duty.

In addition to customs charges, the Indian government levies a goods and services tax on the manufacturing and services of gold.

Anyone buying gold must pay GST, as well as making charges, which adds 8 per cent to the total cost.

There is no limit on the amount of gold a person can export from the UAE and there are no taxes to be paid as you leave the country.

Brazen airline smuggling attempts: in pictures

US Customs arrested this Fly Jamaica Airways cabin crew attendant, who was found to have 4kg of cocaine strapped to his legs and concealed under tights and trousers. The haul at New York's JFK Airport would have been worth about $160,000 on the street. Photo: US Customs and Border Protection

Police in Bogata, Colombia arrested this Canadian woman for trying to smuggle 2kg of cocaine on to a Canada-bound flight in September, 2013. The woman pretended to be pregnant and hid the drugs in a latex belly. AFP

This spectacularly conspicuous attempt to smuggle €30,000 of cocaine ended in arrest for a Colombian passenger in July, 2019. The man, 65, concealed one kilo of the illicit powder by gluing it to his head. He was caught when police noticed the height of his black toupee, when his flight from Bogota landed in Barcelona. Photo: Policia Nacional

Australian customs officers foiled this attempt to smuggle the party drug ecstasy into the country, concealed in a Mr Potato Head toy. Officers at Sydney International Mail Centre cracked open the Toy Story figurine and found 293g of the drug in October, 2007. AFP

Portuguese police released this image of multicoloured swim trunks with two brown rubber bags — supposed to look like buttocks — attached. The passenger who was wearing them was caught at the airport in Lisbon, off a flight from Belem in northern Brazil in February 2018. The fake buttocks contained enough cocaine for 5,000 doses. Photo: Portuguese National Police

Guatemalan smugglers were found to have scooped out the cream filling of dozens of vanilla wafers and replaced it with wraps of cocaine. US Customs and Border Protection arrested the Guatemalan passenger carrying them at George Bush Airport in Houston in April 2015. The nearly 2 kilos of cocaine would have a street value of more than $60,000. AP

Few airports in the world will let you through security without removing your shoes, due to the threat from terrorism and to tackle drug smuggling. Australian Customs discovered nearly half a kilo of heroin in the hollowed out soles of these shoes. AFP

Customs officers at Dubai's main airport foiled 155 attempts to smuggle 'talismans and black magic items', related to witchcraft and sorcery, in 2015. Officers said criminals take advantage of often vulnerable people with superstitions. Photo: Dubai Customs

In August 2019, 755kg of methamphetamine was found hidden under frozen cow hide from Mexico. The crystal meth was wrapped in aluminium foil and sandwiched among 18 pallets of hide that arrived in Sydney aboard a shipping container marked 'Salty Bovine Skin'. AFP

Crystal meth wraps are removed from inside hollowed out hardwood flooring at a warehouse in near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in April, 2017. The haul had been shipped from China and had a street value of $681m. AFP

London-based seafood salesman Gilbert Khoo was sentenced to jail at a British court in March, 2020 for smuggling live 'glass eels' to Hong Kong. He was caught with 200kg and the total haul between 2015 and 2017 was worth about $69m. Photo: National Crime Agency

Khoo, pictured holding two pieces of gold, was arrested after Border Force officers seized a consignment at Heathrow Airport. Photo: National Crime Agency

Dubai Police released this image of drugs in a hollowed out book. It was part of a consignment of two tonnes of drugs of various types. A multinational police operation tackled criminal activities related to drug smuggling and trafficking in Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Austria in November 2017. Photo: Dubai Police

A passenger tried to smuggle a whole roasted hog from Peru to Atlanta in November, 2016, for Thanksgiving. US Customs staff seized the hidden pig, which is banned by laws designed to prevent foot and mouth disease and swine fever. Photo: US Customs and Border Protection

Drugs are hidden inside a microwave as seizures are displayed at Dubai Airport in July 2019. Chris Whiteoak / The National

One of the largest drug busts in Dubai's history was made at Jebel Ali Port in May 2019. Sniffer dogs alerted officers to a shipment that was found to contain 5.7 million Captagon pills. Photo: Dubai Police

Captagon is a type of amphetamine originally used for attention deficit disorders, but was banned in the 1980s due to its highly addictive nature. Smugglers in Syria have thrived during the chaos of the war there, and many shipments have been traced to the Arab state. Photo: Dubai Police