Passenger "Smuggled $100,000 of Diamonds in Modified Underpants"
June 19, 23
(IDEX Online) - An Indian national was arrested after a flight to Indonesia after he was found with diamonds worth $100,000 sewn into his underpants.
Customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, in Jakarta, arrested the 25-year-old man (on 14 June) after spotting "a notable nudge in the bottom half of his wardrobe".
They found that pouches stitched into his underpants contained plastic bags of diamonds weighing a total of 144.27 grams and valued at $100,000.
"It was somewhat laughable when officials physically checked him and saw the specially-designed underwear to store the diamonds," said Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, head of the airport's customs and excise division, according to a report on the Indonesian Tempo news website.
The suspect, identified by the initials RA, said he 'd been paid just $61 by a contact in Mumbai.
He claimed he didn't know the contents of the modified underpants. He flew via Bangkok and was supposed to drop them off at an hotel in central Jakarta.
Pic shows Soekarno-Hatta International Airport