Big-time crime syndicates operating across India are smuggling gold in a paste form to dodge metal detectors and hi-tech X-ray machines installed at all international airports, sources said.

Southern Indian state of Kerala has become the new hub of the gold paste smuggling where more than 16 cases have been registered in the past couple of months, revealed a top DRI source to IANS. However seizures, in recent times, have been made by customs at international airports located outside Kerala too, the source added.