Mumbai, June 26 (IANS) In a major crackdown against smuggling of foreign-origin gold, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested nine members of a syndicate, including a woman posted at the Mumbai airport, and seized a huge quantity of precious metal, an official said on Friday.

While dismantling the highly organised gold smuggling syndicate operating through Mumbai airport, the DRI detected and busted a gold melting facility that was being used for melting foreign-origin smuggled gold.

A total of nine persons involved across the entire smuggling chain, including the airport staff, her handler, three intermediaries, the melting facility operator, and three persons engaged in the melting process, have been arrested, said a DRI statement.

This case underscores the evolving sophistication of organised gold smuggling syndicates, which increasingly exploit insider access at airports and employ layered distribution networks to evade detection, said the statement.

In another operation at Bengaluru, the DRI seized 1.8 kg of 24 KT gold in paste form ingeniously concealed within the layers of garments of an international passenger, said the statement.

Subsequent searches at his residential premises led to the seizure of around 1.5 kg of gold jewellery, 45 kg of silver, and Indian and foreign currencies. The person was arrested, said the DRI.

Earlier this week, the DRI conducted a series of operations at other airports, railway stations and land customs stations at Hyderabad, Rajkot, Calicut, Visakhapatnam, Guwahati and Petrapole (West Bengal), leading to the cumulative seizure of another 6 kg of foreign-origin smuggled gold. Five persons were arrested in these operations.

Overall, with the busting of gold smuggling syndicate, these operations resulted in the seizure of about 15 kg of gold, 45 kg of silver, valued at around Rs 23 crore, and the arrest of 15 persons, said the statement.

On May 20, DRI, Mumbai, busted a highly organised gold smuggling syndicate operating through the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International (CSMI) Airport under a targeted operation codenamed ‘Operation Golden Drop’.

According to the DRI, acting on specific intelligence inputs, officers intercepted and seized three kg of foreign-origin gold valued at approximately Rs 4.8 crore and arrested one accused.

Investigations revealed a sophisticated and meticulously coordinated modus operandi. The smuggled gold dust, converted into wax form, was concealed inside specially designed egg-shaped capsules. These capsules were allegedly ingested and carried into Mumbai by transit passengers, said a statement.

–IANS

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