A woman member of the team conducted a search and found 13 gold bars weighing about 1.5 kg concealed in a cloth waist belt. A subsequent search of her handbag recovered 29 more gold bars weighing about 3.48 kg. In total, 42 foreign-origin gold bars were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, the official said.

She was detained late Wednesday night and formally arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act on Thursday. On Friday, she was produced before the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate, Varanasi which remanded her to 14-day judicial custody, said the official.

The official claimed that in the interrogation, the woman revealed she is a regular carrier of gold bars smuggled from Bangladesh and into Indian territory through Cooch Behar district. She was  to deliver it to a client each in Varanasi and Delhi, the official claimed and they were informed that the DRI has got vital inputs about the syndicate involved in the smuggling of gold, and efforts are on to trace other members of the gang.