On Saturday, the customs department seized around 30.24 kg gold from a diplomatic consignment bound to the UAE Consulate General in Thiruvananthapuram. The smuggling came to light after the customs officials felt suspicious about the baggage, which was supposed to contain food items.

They opened the box after securing permission from the Ministry of External Affairs and found 30 Kg gold, which was in cylindrical shapes, hidden inside steel pipes. The baggage was addressed to an officer in the Consulate, who had no knowledge about it.

Following an investigation, it was found that Swapna, a former employee at the UAE consulate, was the mastermind behind the smuggling. Swapna is said to have used her experience in working with the consulate to opt for this kind of a smuggling technique as checking on things coming through diplomatic baggage is minimal.

The Customs revealed that the woman is on the run, while a former Consulate PRO Sarith was taken into custody. Sarith is said to have confessed on committing the crime. Reportedly, Swapna and Sarith have been smuggling until their tenure in the consulate. However, she continued the smuggling even after she left the office. It is alleged that Swapna has connections with high-level officials and is said to have smuggled gold in a similar fashion earlier also. A huge racket is suspected to be behind the entire smuggling, say reports.

Swapna was working as an operational manager under the IT Department as a temporary appointee. After the smuggling case came to light, she was dismissed on Monday. The residence of Swapna Suresh is been raided by the customs officials and the officers are trying to track down Swapna, who has gone absconding.

Diplomatic baggage is basically the luggage sent from one country to their embassy or consulate in another country. These are usually not checked even under suspicious circumstances as it would hamper the ties between the two countries if nothing illegal was found while checking. This is the biggest gold haul in Kerala and also the first instance of gold being seized from diplomatic baggage in the state.