The Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu on Sunday arrested a man for trying to smuggle gold through the Tribhuvan International Airport.

Lila Basnet, a resident of Kanepokhari, Morang, had returned to Nepal from Qatar after working there for three years. He was arrested based on a tip-off, police said.

When the flight boarded by Basnet landed, police in civvies followed him from inside the airport. When Basnet was checked by the customs, nothing objectionable was detected. The migrant worker was caught when he exited the airport’s arrival gate.

“We had received a tip-off from Qatar itself about Basnet,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati, spokesperson for the range, told the Post.

After the arrest, Basnet was taken into custody and his luggage checked. Police then found the gold hidden inside diapers brought by Basnet.

Police confiscated a bangle weighing around 50 grams and there were many small pieces of gold rings hidden inside popper buttons.

“The gold was moulded into small rounds so that it could be hidden inside the popper. The metal detector at the airport failed to detect it,” said Bogati. “We found gold in 22 diapers.”

However, according to police, Basnet said he had carried the baggage with diapers for someone else.

“Basnet said that he was given a bag by one of his friends in Qatar saying that it contained two shampoos,” said Bogati. “There were two shampoos in his luggage but it does not clear the things out. An investigation is underway.