Paro District court today sentenced two men from India to two and a half years in prison for attempting to smuggle gold.
The two men were arrested in May from Paro airport for smuggling around 3.5 kilograms of gold from Bangkok.
The verdict said they had intended to make the gold look like suitcase parts in order to deceive customs officials of both Bhutan and India.
The verdict also stated that they were charged for smuggling gold by the Office of the Attorney General. But since they were caught inside the airport premises they were sentenced for criminal attempt to smuggle.
Payment in lieu of sentence cannot be made since it is a felony case. They have 10 days to appeal to the High Court if they are not satisfied with the verdict.
