14 DAY TRIAL // An aircraft maintenance crew found the astonishing amount of 24 gold bars hidden in a Jet Airways Boeing 737 in Kolkata, India. An end of the day routine led to the incredible findings worth $1.2 million (€890,000).
The maintenance team went to do their usual inspection of the plane when they saw two bags stashed in a compartment bathroom. “It was quite a surprise! The bars were packed in bags so we did not immediately know what it was. The bags were inspected and found to be gold” the airport director, BP Sharma told NBC News.
The flight had traveled from Mumbai to Bangkok, Thailand and returned to Kolkata before leaving for another flight. The gold appears to origin from the United Arab Emirates and weights almost 53 pounds (24 kilograms). Before landing back in Kolkata, the aircraft had been flying a few international routes, which also included the Middle East.
An official investigation has been launched, but no leads regarding the mysterious gold appeared yet. It is believed that smugglers found an ingenious way to get gold into the country without declaring it at customs.
The system found implies a loophole in India's flight schedule, the gold is hidden in the restrooms during an international flight and remains on the board of the aircraft until a domestic flight is made, where a new passenger picks up the gold without even minding with customs issues.
This is not the first time this happened on the board on an Indian flight, last month another aircraft crew found 280 gold bars worth $1.9 (€1.4) million inside a plane flying from Dubai to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Another 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of gold was found abandoned in an airplane toilet in Chennai Airport.
India is the world's number one gold importer, but it is close to being dethroned by China. A big part of India's gold is used in traditional rituals or as offerings for the gods in exchange of good luck and protection.