Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

$1.2 Million In Gold Bars Were Found In A Boeing 737's Bathroom In India

Michael KelleyNov 20, 2013, 17:36 IST

Wikimedia Commons

Aircraft maintenance workers in India found 24 gold bars worth $1.2 million in a commercial jet's bathroom, NBC News contributor Alexander Smith of reports. The 53-pound stash was found a compartment in the bathroom on a Jet Airways Boeing 737 that had traveled from Mumbai to the Thai capital Bangkok before returning to Kolkata.

Airport director BP Sharma told NBC News that the gold appeared to have originated in the United Arab Emirates.

India is the world's largest consumer of gold and smuggling has become rampant. In October four men were arrested for stashing 70 lbs of gold biscuits in the lavatory of an Air India flight.

Smith notes: "Much of India's vast gold consumption is hoarded or offered to the gods."