Malappuram: The Karipur police on Saturday seized 404 grams of gold hidden inside date packages from a passenger at the Kozhikode International Airport. The police also arrested the person who came to receive the smuggled gold. This incident marks the second smuggling attempt foiled by the Karipur police within four days. 

The accused, identified as Abdul Aziz (40), a resident of Thamarassery, arrived at the Airport at 9:06 am on Indigo flight 6E 66 from Jeddah. The gold was disguised as jewellery and hidden within date packages. He managed to deceive the airport customs and bought the gold outside. 

However, he was caught during police surveillance. The police also detained Muhammad Basheer from Thamarassery, who arrived at the airport to collect the smuggled gold. The gold is estimated to be worth Rs 35 lakh. 

Aziz has confessed to the crime, and the police are further interrogating them to uncover the larger smuggling network behind this operation.

This incident comes days after Karipur police thwarted another smuggling attempt. On March 11, the police detained Sahihul Misfar (29), also a Thamarassery native, with 340 grams of gold worth Rs 26 lakh. The gold mixture had been packed into two small packets and concealed inside the stitched hem of his jeans.