Authorities in Mumbai, India, arrested three Kenyan women on Friday, March 10, for smuggling three kilograms of gold worth Ksh22 million into the South Asian country.
According to the officers, the three, who were arrested at Mumbai Airport, were travelling from Addis Ababa.
They were intercepted by customs who revealed that they hid the gold in their undergarments and shoes.
On Sunday, March 12, the authorities published a video showing how they were ripping apart a pair of shoes and recovering tiny blocks of gold that were hidden inside.
“One of them was found to have concealed gold in the sole of her footwear, another woman had concealed gold in undergarment and in one case, the woman had concealed it in her body part,” a Customs official stated.
The officers added that they were probing the source where the women procured the gold.
Additionally, they stated that they were also conducting an investigation to determine who was supposed to receive the consignment in Mumbai.
According to the Indian Customs Act, it is an offense to carry gold without declaration. This is aimed at preventing injury to the economy of the country.
The women were detained to aid the police in further investigations
Earlier on February 11, police officers in Mumbai, India, arrested two Kenyans who had smuggled 18 kilograms of gold worth Ksh136.6 million into the country.
According to police reports, one of the suspects was a member of an international airline crew who aided and abetted the smuggling that was ranked as one of India's biggest cases of gold smuggling.
In a separate incident on March 2022, two Kenyans who had arrived in New Delhi from Nairobi through Addis Ababa were arrested in India while smuggling also possessing gold.
According to police, one of the suspects admitted to having visited India four times carrying gold.
