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Air hostess arrested after 1kg of gold was found hidden in rectum as more flight crew probed

Home> News> World News

Published 12:10 19 Jan 2025 GMT

Air hostess arrested after 1kg of gold was found hidden in rectum as more flight crew probed

She was only caught because her movements arose suspicions

Joe Yates

Joe Yates

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/mihailomilovanovic/Getty Images/Dragon Claws

Topics: Drugs, India, World News, Crime, Travel, Reddit

Joe Yates
Joe Yates

Joe is a journalist for UNILAD, who particularly enjoys writing about crime. He has worked in journalism for five years, and has covered everything from murder trials to celeb news.

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@JMYjourno

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We're all thinking the same thing: how could you fit a kilo of gold up your rear end?

Well, an air hostess managed to take off with 960 grams of gold in her rectum - although she and a fellow cabin crew member were eventually caught when they landed.

Yeah, the pair didn't make off with it, but it seems a little bizarre why anyone would go through the pressure of doing so. Typically, in western countries like the US, Canada and the UK, it's drugs that get couriered up the anus of mules.

But the incident happened in India, where surprisingly, there's a huge market for smuggling gold (we'll dive into why later).

First, let's talk about 26-year-old air hostess Surabhi Khatun, who worked as a cabin crew member for Air India Express when she was arrested in May last year by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence as her flight from Muscat landed in Kannur International Airport.

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Concerns were understood to have been raised as her movement was cited as being suspicious, when officials at customs stopped her for questioning Khatun refused to get an X-ray.

Following her refusal, the official obtained an order from a magistrate to undertake a 'medical examination' - at which point they discovered 960 grams of gold in compound form the Kolkata native's bottom.

Khatun was sentenced to 14 days in a women's prison in Kannur.

"With a value of $89k. I would have trained a little before moving it. You know like shoving it up my ass and walking around the house with it," one person posted on Reddit.

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Surabhi Khatun was arrested for smuggling 960 grams of gold in her rectum (Instagram/surabhi_khatun98)
Surabhi Khatun was arrested for smuggling 960 grams of gold in her rectum (Instagram/surabhi_khatun98)

Her sentencing was the first of its kind, where a member of an airline was caught smuggling gold in their rectum - but it wasn't the first time she had done it.

So why is there a market for gold smuggling in India?

Back in 2012, the Indian government increased gold import duties by three times to 15 percent - with the country at the time being the biggest gold consumer in the world.

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So, to evade high tariffs, people got creative and were prepared to pay 'gold mules' 54,000 rupees per kilogram, about $623 - that was shortly after the tax hike.

By the middle of last year, smugglers were being paid an estimated 1.3 million rupees to do so, around $15,000.

With a higher demand and a lower supply, prices of gold have drastically increased - with smuggled gold coming in a lot cheaper, they can be sold for higher profits.

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