Printed from

Smugglers tamper with aircraft wiring

4.5kg gold bars
TNN | Mar 6, 2024, 07.13 AM IST

CHENNAI: Taking gold smuggling to a n

trained culprits interfered with the very w
by accessing the line through the toilet r
gold by tethering it on wires and then fix
code lock at the end.The rectangular go
middle, were found secured to a padlock
it. It had a number-coded lock at the loo
insider who had access to the code coul
consignment at Chennai airport.
"The fact that the smuggler(s) opened the aircraft part effortlessly means they know ho
aircraft and had the knack of concealing it using specific tools," said a seasoned pilot, w
named. Asked if it endangered passenger safety, he said aircraft are designed in such a
elements could be accessed from the lavatory, as it would lead to sabotage. "There will b
for lighting, fan and smoke sensor in the lavatory," said the pilot. But he says it cannot be
requires special tools.

The smuggling bid came to light when workers sanitising the plane found the electrica
tampered with. The Indigo plane had come from Abu Dhabi on Thursday night and wa
Hyderabad in a few minutes as a domestic flight.
On information, safety officers prised open the electric box and found a cable stuck with
hanging with a heavy package secured with a padlock in the loose end.

Authorities had to cut the cable and break open the padlock to retrieve three rectangul
black adhesive tape.
Nevertheless, authorities have taken a serious note of the new method adopted by gold
an inquiry into the incident.

"Smugglers resort to extreme methods to evade suspicion of enforcement agencies and

the gold must have trained well beforehand to hide gold in the cabin mid-flight," said a
officials, who seized the gold bars, suspect that smugglers might have engaged a grou
airport to extract the consignment and hand it over to them or that it might have been