Three women have been arrested after customs officers found they were smuggling six kilos of gold hidden inside their underwear and private parts.
The bizarre find was made at Turkey's Istanbul airport where customs officers were suspicious of the way three women from Uzbekistan were behaving, and decided to search their luggage.
When that yielded no contraband, they decided to do a body scan and were reportedly astonished when they realised that the women had the gold objects stuffed inside their clothes and some in their private parts.
Photos released by investigators showed X-ray images of the hidden treasure still inside the suspects.
The gold had been divided into 120 small packets and weighed a total of 6.28 kilos (13.8 lbs).
The women, identified only as Aziza B. Dilsora A. and Firuza K., were then handed over to the Crime Prevention and Investigation Bureau on 25th April.
News of the discovery follows on from another body search of another suspect in a separate incident that led to the recovery of diamonds being smuggled into the country.
The suspect was stopped by agents at the same airport in an apparent bid to smuggle 58 grammes of diamonds and gold jewellery.
Police were called to investigate and they uncovered that the precious stones were headed for an address in the city.
A second suspect was captured during a raid on the address, where officers found a stash of 151 kilos of diamonds, emeralds and rubies, among others, as well as 940 pieces of jewellery, all illegally imported into the country.
They are estimated to be worth around TRY 250 million (GBP 4.7 million), the Istanbul Police said in a 13th May statement.
The boom in illegal mining across parts of Africa, South America, and Central Asia has created a shadow economy where unlicensed operators extract vast quantities of gold, diamonds, and other precious stones outside any formal regulatory framework.
With no legal way to sell their findings, smugglers often turn to black market networks to convert raw materials into cash, bypassing taxes, safety standards, and human rights protections.
These uncut gems and raw gold bars are frequently trafficked across borders using elaborate concealment methods and eventually laundered into the legitimate supply chain through complicit traders or informal workshops.
The authorities said the diamonds had no documentation and were likely being brought into Turkey to be sold on the black market.
Both incidents are under further investigation.
(MJ Leidig/newsX)