Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in India seized 32kg of gold, worth Rs 8.43 crore, at Madurai international airport on Saturday afternoon, Indian media said today. 

Gold biscuits and jewellery were brought here by couriers in two flights - one from Colombo and another from Dubai. 

Officials arrested three passengers in connection with the seizure and were questioning 10 others. 

Meanwhile, officials said the raid was conducted based on intelligence inputs. They refused reveal the names of the passengers who smuggled the gold into the country. 

The first seizure was made inside a Mihin Lanka flight after all the passengers had left the airport. The flight landed around 3.30pm. Officials said they found a suitcase filled with gold biscuits, weighing more than 23ks. 

They also seized gold from three passengers who arrived here on a SpiceJet flight from Dubai. The flight landed at Madurai around 4.45pm. 

DRI officials said insiders at the airport might have links with the smugglers. 

The raid was jointly conducted by DRI officials from Chennai and Tuticorin. Around 10 officials took part in the raid.

(With inputs from Times of India)