Airport Security Catches Travelers Smuggling Gold Under Wigs

Two men were arrested at an airport in India after security officers found nearly $400,000 in gold hidden under their wigs and in their rectums.

According to the Daily Mail, the two suspects were identified as Magroob Akbarali and Zubair Hassan Rafiyutheen and arrested in the terminal Chennai International Airport in India on March 21.

Security officers noticed the two men with unusual hairstyles acting suspiciously as they approached the airport’s exit, so they stopped them and began a search for potential contraband.

Soon after beginning the search, officials discovered the two men were wearing wigs that hid gold paste packets underneath that weighed 1.5 pounds. The packets were reportedly glued to the suspects’ heads.

Upon further inspection, officers discovered additional pieces of gold, cash and other items hidden in their socks and rectums, totaling an estimated $382,943. The two men had arrived from Dubai.

Earlier this year, three men traveling from Madagascar to Dubai via South Africa were stopped in Johannesburg and searched by security guards, who discovered around 162 pounds of gold bullion, worth an estimated $4.1 million.

In 2020, an airline passenger was arrested in India after being caught with more than two pounds of flattened gold hidden inside his rectum.