Agartala: Security personnel at Agartala’s Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport intercepted a passenger attempting to smuggle seven gold biscuits, worth nearly Rs 88 lakh, hidden inside his rectum, officials said on Wednesday.
The contraband, weighing around 740 grams, was detected by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) during security checks before the passenger was to board a flight to Lucknow via Kolkata.
The individual and his co-traveller were detained and handed over to Customs officials for further investigation.
Customs authorities, assisted by medical professionals from a private hospital in Agartala, later recovered the concealed gold through a medical procedure.
A case has since been registered, and efforts are underway to trace the wider smuggling network behind the operation.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the gold was likely brought in from Bangladesh and was being transported to Lucknow as part of an organized smuggling chain, a police official said.
Officials noted that incidents of gold smuggling through the MBB Airport and along Tripura’s international border continue to surface despite heightened vigilance.
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In a separate case earlier this year, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel had seized 2.18 kg of gold, valued at over Rs 1.7 crore, from a border village in Sepahijala district.
Tripura, which shares an 856-km-long boundary with Bangladesh, remains highly vulnerable to cross-border crimes, including smuggling.
While most stretches of the frontier are fenced, officials acknowledged that unfenced pockets still pose significant security challenges.
The BSF has stepped up surveillance since the political turmoil in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August 2024.
