DRI busts gold melting unit in Mumbai, seizes gold worth ₹9 crore

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a gold melting facility in south Mumbai, seized the yellow metal worth Rs 8.93 crore and arrested seven members of a crime syndicate, officials said on Monday.

The central agency had specific intelligence about the facility involved in melting of smuggled gold brought to India from Dubai with the help of carrier passengers recruited by an organized syndicate, an official said.  Accordingly, the DRI's Mumbai Zonal Unit initiated action under the codename "Operation Alchemist" on Sunday night and uncovered the gold melting unit in the Masjid Bunder area.  Initially, a DRI team nabbed two persons, who were coming out of the facility and 8.74 kg of gold in bar form was recovered from their possession, he said. A search was conducted at the facility, where DRI officials found that two operators were melting smuggled gold and converting the precious metal into bars, he said.  During investigation it surfaced that 18 egg-shaped capsules containing gold were smuggled into India earlier on Sunday after carrier passengers landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the official informed.  The smuggled capsules were melted down at the facility into half a dozen bars weighing 8.74 kg. In a follow-up operation, the DRI apprehended two additional individuals involved in collecting the smuggled capsules along with a key person managing melting operations, he said.  In all, seven accused persons were arrested and gold valued at Rs 8.93 crore was seized during the operation, the official said, adding further probe was underway.