Police removed the contraband from rectal cavity with doctor’s help

Kathmandu, November 30

Security personnel at Tribhuvan International Airport arrested a Chinese national with one kilogram of undeclared gold concealed in his rectum yesterday.

Sa Luitui, 22, (passport number EI7997882) was taken into custody by a joint team of customs officials and security personnel for further investigation after an X-ray machine detected metal in his body during security screening at a walk through gate of the arrival point at TIA. He had arrived here on a Tibet Air flight from China.

Police suspected that something was wrong with the Chinese man after he was spotted behaving suspiciously and walking in a peculiar way. The Chinese admitted to concealing gold in his rectum after he was quizzed. Police, with the help of doctors at the Sinamangal-based KMC Hospital, removed the contraband from the rectal cavity. He had put the gold inside a condom with its part outside so that he could pull it easily from the rectum after reaching the destination. TIA has reported three such cases of gold smuggling earlier.

Despite police action, racketeers continue attempts to smuggle gold through the only international airport of the country. On Thursday, two Chinese nationals were arrested with eight kilograms of undeclared gold being smuggled via TIA. Those arrested are Chen Qinghuang (passport number EA5807598) and Chen Zhaoyang (passport number EH6596637).

Police said racketeers were changing their modus operandi for smuggling gold through TIA. Concealing gold in the rectum, battery box, laptop, baggage, air-filter of vehicle, cargo trucks and inner sole of shoes are some ways adopted by smugglers. Smugglers also mould gold into jewellery and wear them to outsmart security officials.  Similarly, racketeers have been using returnee Nepali migrant workers to smuggle gold. Migrant workers are paid by the racketeers from the Gulf via wire after the consignment of gold is received by the concerned person in Nepal.

According to statistics released by Nepal Police, it seized 108 kilograms of gold in fiscal 2018-19 compared to 72 kilograms in the previous fiscal. Officials said they had not been able to completely control gold smuggling for want of hi-tech screening devices and detectors along the borders and TIA. Most of the smuggled gold enters Nepal through TIA and Tatopani and Rasuwagadi-Kerung border points from Tibet, China.