Mangaluru: Officials of the Customs department at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) seized gold which was being smuggled by a male passenger.

The passenger, hailing from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, had arrived from Dubai by a private airliner, a customs release said here Thursday.

The officials seized 24-carat gold weighing 364.5 gm, valued at Rs 18,95,400 from the passenger on Wednesday.

He had tried to smuggle the gold in the paste form packed in a paper and plastic packet which was concealed inside the stitched pocket of ladies’ undergarments carried in a carton box, the release said.