Mangaluru : Officials of Mangaluru Air Customs on March 28 arrested a woman passenger and her husband hailing from Cheroor of Kasaragod in Kerala on the charges of smuggling gold.

The woman had concealed the gold in her inner garments after turning it into in powder form and mixing it with a solid gum.

The gold weighed 851 grams valued at ₹39.48 lakhs was seized from them, a customs release on March 28 said, adding that the arrested were identified as as Fousiya Missiriya Moideen Kunhi (33) and Moideen Kunhi Cheroor (44).

They had arrived by an Air India flight No. IX 1384 from Dubai on March 27 evening along with their four children.

The woman had concealed the gold in her specially designed inner garment, the release said.

The operation was led by Deputy Commissioner (Manokatyayani) Avinash Kiran Rongali, and Superintendent rank officers Shrikanth and Nagesh.

Earlier on March 11, customs officials at the Mangaluru airport arrested a woman from Kasaragod, Kerala on the charges of smuggling gold by concealing it in her sanitary pads and socks. They had seized 2.41 k.g. of gold valued at ₹1.10 crore from her after she arrived from Dubai by an Air India flight.