Workers who were tasked with cleaning out the restroom on a Jet Airways Boeing 737 making a quick stop in India were given one heck of a tip — a stash of gold bars valued at $1.2 million.
“It was quite a surprise,” said the airport director, BP Sharma, to NBC News. “The bars were packed in bags so we did not immediately know what it was. The bags were inspected and found to be gold.”
Authorities suspect the gold came by way of smugglers who made the quick stash to avoid being caught. Nobody’s yet been arrested or labeled a suspect in the investigation, the New York Post reported.
The plane had just landed in Kolkata, the city formerly known as Calcutta. It was about to leave for Patna, India, when the workers made the discovery.
The gold bars were inside two separate bags and weighed a total of 53 pounds. It’s believed they came from the United Arab Emirates, but they also could have come aboard when the plane made a quick stop in Bangkok, authorities said.
Bars of gold are uncommon sites in India. The precious metal is usually hoarded — or given in offering to the country’s many gods, the New York Post reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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