KOLKATA, India, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Indian customs officials say recent large seizures show Kolkata has become a major center of gold smuggling.
Late Tuesday, investigators discovered 52 pounds of gold concealed in a toilet compartment on an airplane, Indian Express reported. Another 11 pounds was seized and five people arrested in central Kolkata, the city formerly known as Calcutta.
The gold found on the plane was valued at more than $1 million. It was in two bags discovered by cleaners after the Jet Airways plane, which had come from Bangkok, arrived at Kolkata.
More than 40 seizures have been made at the airport in the past seven months, involving more than 100 pounds of gold total, customs officials said.
Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, is one of India's major cities and the country's oldest still-functioning port.
