Siliguri, Feb 18 (ANI): The Siliguri Police seized 18 kilograms of gold from three people after intercepting their car in Siliguri on Wednesday. Acting on a tip-off, police caught the smugglers passing by Salugara Monastery. The police recovered 13 thousand USD and a pistol with ammunition from them. When they (smugglers) and the car were searched, 18 bars of gold weighing 1kilogram each, total 18kilograms gold, 13 thousand USD, and one improvised pipe gun with two round of ammunition is what we have found. In India, smugglers risk a jail term of up to seven years, although such a penalty is rare and the main deterrent is confiscation of the gold. When the country first started stifling gold imports in 2013 to tackle a widening trade deficit, smugglers went to the extent of getting human mules to swallow nuggets or hiding gold bars in dead cows.