Three men in Chennai, east India, were arrested after they attempted to smuggle gold into the country.

The trio were caught having packets of gold hidden underneath their wigs.

Syed Ahamedulla, 22, Santhosh Selvam, 33, and Abdullah, 35, were detained after their hairstyles looked suspicious.

Upon examination, they were found to be wearing wigs under which packets of gold were hidden.

Footage from March 20 shows the trio removing their artificial hair to reveal the contraband.

Two more men, Magroob Akbarali and Zubair Hassan Rafiyutheen, were also arrested on March 20 for hiding gold underneath their wigs.

Hiding gold under wigs has become a trend among smugglers. On Friday (March 19), Chennai customs department officials arrested three men Syed Ahamedulla, 22, ,Santhosh Selvam,33, and Abdullah, 35 Chennai who arrived from Dubai and Sharjah. They were detained after their hair styles looked suspicious. On examination they were found to be having partly tonsured heads and wearing wigs under which gold was hidden. Two more men Magroob Akbarali and Zubair Hassan Rafiyutheen were also arrested on March 20 for hiding gold underneath their wigs. In another case, four Sharjah-bound passengers were arrested for trying to smuggle foreign currency under their wigs. Passengers have also been arrested for hiding gold in conventional places such as stitching them under garment or inserting in rectum. In total, gold worth Rs 2.53 core and foreign currency worth Rs 24 lakh have been seized in the last one week.