Six held at four airports for smuggling gold: DRI

In a coordinated operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested six persons from four airports in the country for allegedly smuggling gold worth Rs 1.62 crore, the agency said today.

The arrests were made from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Bengaluru airports on the basis of the intelligence provided by the DRI zonal unit in Ahmedabad, the agency said, adding that a total of 5.2 kg gold was seized during the operation.

However, the agency did not specify the exact time of the arrests.

DRI sleuths arrested a passenger at the Ahmedabad airport for allegedly carrying smuggled gold weighing 1 kg "in the form of 24 carat raw gold chains and bangles," from Dubai, the DRI said in a release.

On the basis of inputs provided by their Ahmedabad counterparts, the Mumbai unit of the DRI arrested three persons from the Mumbai airport for allegedly possessing 3.15 kg gold, it said.

"One of the three persons was carrying 1.2 kg gold which he received from a man who had smuggled it to Dimapur in Nagaland from Bangkok via Myanmar. Another passenger had concealed the smuggled gold in a handbag which was handed over to him by an international passenger at the Delhi airport," it stated.

Both the passengers travelled to Mumbai from Guwahati and Delhi, respectively, on a fake ID to avoid checking by the Customs at the airport.

"The third passenger (arrested at the Mumbai airport) was travelling from Riyadh and was carrying 750 gms of smuggled gold which he had concealed in some electronic devices," according to the DRI.

The agency said they seized 1.1 kg smuggled gold from two passengers, who travelled from Dubai and Sharjah, respectively, at the Nagpur and Bengaluru airports.

"A total 5.2 kg smuggled gold having a market value of Rs 1.62 crore was seized. The six smugglers were arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962," it said.