DRI seizes 12 kg gold hidden in zinc scrap at Mundra Port

Gold bars concealed in cargo of zinc die-cast scarp, value estimated at Rs 3.6 crore

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) today seized 12 kg gold bars from a zinc scrap container cargo at Mundra port in Kutch district, official sources said. The value of gold seized is estimated to be around Rs 3.6 crores. No arrests have been made in this regard.

The gold bars, sources said, were being smuggled by concealing in a cargo of zinc die-cast scrap. It was imported from Dubai in the name of a Rajkot-based firm.

The seizure was made on the basis of specific intelligence inputs gathered by DRI officials. Further investigation in the case was on.

A container which had declared goods as zinc die-cast scrap was detained at Mundra port on Wednesday, official sources said. They identified 95 pieces of lumps of zinc die cast scrap out of which 12 pieces were found to be suspicious.

When two pieces were broken, it contained a rectangular steel case-in. When both the rectangular case-ins were broken, one kg gold bar, covered with clay-sand particles, was recovered.

Investigators said the modus operandi was to smuggle gold bars by concealing in zinc lumps. The sender from abroad would cover the bars by pasting wet clay-sand on each of them before preparing a rectangular shaped steel case-in to keep one bar in each case-in.

The case-in would be then sealed before melting the zinc in the furnace. The rectangular shaped case-ins would be kept between the molten zinc. Once the zinc containing rectangular shaped steel case-in becomes solid in nature, it would be imported as lumps of zinc scrap.

The wet clay-sand cover on each gold bar acted as a protective cover from heat. Sources said that the consignment of zinc die-cast scrap weighed 21.1 million tonnes and was valued at Rs 21.30 lakhs.  

Meanwhile, Customs officials in Ahmedabad on Wednesday arrested Manjaliya Mohamed Rafiq, a resident of Mundra in Kutch, from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPI), Ahmedabad.

He was trying to smuggle gold wires and gold strips weighing 705.58 gms valued at Rs 20.81 lakh. The gold wires were concealed in a suitcase and gold strips were duly wrapped inside a blanket.