The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted an alleged gold smuggling syndicate by arresting five of its members and seizing 2.31 kilograms of smuggled gold, estimated at ₹ 3.47 crore, at Mumbai airport.
Preliminary investigation has revealed the involvement of the accused in the clandestine movement and handling of the smuggled gold, the officer said. Tests confirmed the alleged presence of cocaine in the recovered substance. The arrests and the seizure of gold were effected under the provisions of the Customs Act. Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers intercepted the female Zambian national who arrived at the Mumbai international airport from Freetown, Sierra Leone, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The contraband was seized, and the passenger was arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
In a separate operation, the DRI ‘s Mumbai unit seized smuggled 190 grams of cocaine, worth ₹ 1 crore in the illicit market, allegedly from a Zambian national who arrived at the CSMIA from Sierra Leone, via Ethiopia, on Tuesday with the contraband. During a subsequent medical examination, the passenger expelled 11 capsules containing white powder.
Among the five arrested by the agency were two passengers, a third-party entity’s employee and two recipients, DRI officials said. “During the operation, DRI seized 2.317 kg of 24-carat foreign-origin gold bars, valued at around ₹ 3.47 crore, and apprehended the five persons involved in the smuggling network, ” an officer said. Further investigation is underway to trace the syndicate’s wider network and identify other individuals involved in the smuggling syndicate, officials said. “DRI remains committed to dismantling organised smuggling networks and curbing the illicit trade in foreign-origin gold through intelligence-led enforcement, ” an officer said. The accused had allegedly ingested the cocaine – filled capsules in a bid to smuggle the drug into India, DRI officials said. The DRI had information that the accused foreign passenger was a carrier of a narcotics trafficking network and was concealing a drug inside her body through ingestion, officials said. “The case highlights the persistent threat posed by international drug-trafficking networks exploiting air travel and human carriers to smuggle narcotic substances,” a DRI official said. Further investigation is underway to unravel the wider network and identify other persons involved in the smuggling bid, the official said.
Acting on a tip-off, the DRI’s Mumbai unit conducted operations on Monday and Tuesday to foil the syndicate’s smuggling bid through the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), officials said.
