These trousers legs that look like they have been coated in yellow paint are actually covered in gold that was being smuggled through an Indian airport.

The incident took place at Kannur International Airport in the south-western Indian state of Kerala when customs agents seized 302 grammes of gold paste valued at nearly GBP 14,000.

One official said the passenger hid the gold inside a double layer in the trousers they were wearing.

While some netizens were impressed, with one netizen named as ‘ASurmala’ saying “what a technique! OMG”, others pointed out an apparent flaw in the smuggler’s plan, with ‘Unlimitedbanter’ saying: “Like the whole pant won’t go off when they pass the metal detector. Gold is a metal, passing through any metal detector in any form will make it go off!” (sic)

The suspect, who has not been named, was detained by the authorities.

India has a long history of being enamoured with gold dating back thousands of years and it was recently estimated that the country has about 20,000 tonnes of the precious metal that it holds in reserve, which is more than the reserves of the United States, the Eurozone and China combined.

Last year in Kerala, a scandal erupted when gold worth nearly GBP 1.5 million was seized in a diplomatic bag destined for the United Arab Emirates’ consulate in the capital of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.

It has been estimated that India imports about 900 tons of gold annually while the population consumes about a thousand times more every year, meaning a significant percentage of it is most likely being smuggled into the country.