Mangalore: The officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered 1,233 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 29 lakh concealed underneath a commode in one of the aircraft's rear toilets at Mangalore International Airport on Monday.

A press release from DRI Mangalore deputy director Vinayak Bhat said that upon receipt of specific intelligence that certain unscrupulous elements are attempting to smuggle huge quantities of gold jewelry into the country through Mangalore International Airport by the way of concealing them inside aircraft, the officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence conducted thorough rummaging of the aircraft flight no 9W 531, the Jet Airways flight operating from Dubai to Mangalore.

After an intensive search operation, the officers discovered two black colored pouches cleverly concealed underneath the commode in one of the aircraft's rear toilets. Huge quantities of assorted gold ornaments comprising necklaces, bracelets, eardrops, chains with pendants and others were recovered from these pouches. The entire jewellery was seized by the officers for contravention of the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the aircraft was later scheduled to take-off to Mumbai on its subsequent journey and there it was supposed to be retrieved by an agent of the smugglers having access to the airport.

The case assumes importance as it happens to be the first incident of an organized gold smuggling attempted through Mangalore airport after months of lull following demonetization.

Further investigation is on.