Gold worth Rs 5.54 cr seized by DRI

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said Friday that it has seized 19 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 5.54 crore.

Acting on a tip-off, DRI officials intercepted five containers carrying metal scrap at Hind Terminal container freight station outside the country's largest container port, JNPT, near here.

The scrap had been imported by M/s Shourya Exim and consigned by M/s Al Shaab Al Waseem Metal of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it said.

During the search, DRI officials found one of the pipes unusually heavy, with its one end closed and the other plugged with nuts and bolts, it said.

When it was opened, 18 bundles wrapped with black insulation tape were found. Packed inside were 163 bars of ten tolas each of 24KT gold, with a purity of 0.999.

Last week, the DRI had claimed to have busted a massive smuggling racket with a seizure of 106.9 kg of gold and arrest of seven persons in Mumbai.