Security personnel on Monday detained two men in possession of 3.36 kilograms of gold in Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
The arrestees have been identified as Bodhraj Bhandari (30) of Bardagoriya Rural Municipality-1 in Kailali district and Murariraj Adhikari (47) of Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City-2 in Dhanusha district.
The duo was arrested from the baggage area of the domestic terminal while they were about to board the flights of Shree Airlines en route to Biratnagar on Monday morning. Police said the duo was arrested on the charge of smuggling the precious yellow metal during a security check conducted by the TIA police. The gold jewelleries were detected through the XRAY machine.
Meanwhile, police confiscated 22-carat gold jewellery weighing 515 grams from the possession of Bhandari and 24-carat gold jewellery weighing 597 grams, 22-carat jewellery weighing 1,552 grams of gold, and 696 grams of 14-carat gold jewellery with precious stones. They were arrested after they failed to fulfil the formality necessary. Police said that they seized gold worth Rs 22,492,397.
Despite heightened security at the sole international airport, racketeers are found to be involved in smuggling gold jewellery and illegal drugs openly.
Meanwhile, the arrestees have been handed over to the Department of Revenue Investigation in Hariharbhawan, Lalitpur for necessary actions, informed Airport Security Office.
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