The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers on Saturday busted a gold-smuggling syndicate operating from a hotel near the Ahmedabad International Airport, resulting in the seizure of a huge cache of precious metal.
During the operation, the DRI seized a total of 10.32 kilograms of 24-karat gold worth Rs 7.75 crore.
Based on an intelligence tip-off, DRI officers discreetly chased and tracked two passengers arriving from Abu Dhabi, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI), along with two other individuals at the airport to receive them.
The DRI sleuths intercepted the passengers and the receivers near a hotel near the Ahmedabad airport area.
Individual searches of the passengers led to the recovery of 3596.36 grams of foreign-origin smuggled gold paste concealed in their undergarments.
Responding to the situation, a team of DRI officers conducted a search operation in the hotel where other members of the syndicate were found staying.
Further interrogation revealed that one person had already left Ahmedabad after receiving gold paste smuggled by another member of the syndicate, who had arrived by an early morning flight, and was en route to Mumbai by train.
The DRI sleuths intercepted the said person at Borivali Station. A recovery of 2,551.000 grams of gold in paste form was made from that person.
Based on the lead gathered during the interrogation, DRI officers bumped into another passenger of the same syndicate, arriving from Dubai at the SVPI Airport, Ahmedabad resulting in a further recovery of 5.5 Kgs of gold paste.
The aggregate seizure amounted to 10.32 kg of gold, estimated to be worth Rs 7.75 crore. The intercepted passengers and syndicate members admitted to smuggling gold paste from Dubai/Abu Dhabi and delivering it to their handlers in Ahmedabad.
All the ten members, including the key handler, actively involved in smuggling, have been arrested by the DRI under the Customs Act.
The modus operandi involved a Chennai-based gold carrier gang operating through Ahmedabad Airport.
The members of the syndicate smuggled foreign-origin gold paste through various people belonging to Tamil Nadu acting as ‘carriers’.
A handler at a near-airport hotel would receive the smuggled goods and promptly deploy another person to transport the gold onward to Mumbai, Chennai, and, other stations.
Investigation indicates that the syndicate was operational for the past four months.
Source Agencies
