Acting on a tip-off, a team of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials carried out vehicle check near the Nagapattinam-Karaikal border area during which they intercepted a car and found the gold bars weighing 10.8-kg in it.
The bars worth about Rs 3 crore were being smuggled into India from Sri Lanka and transported by road to Chennai via Kodiakarai, the sources said.
Three persons, including one from Vizhunthamavadi village in this district were arrested and investigations are on, they added.