MUMBAI: After receiving specific intelligence that smugglers were trafficking gold from Africa to India via Mumbai airport and were planning to send the gold to a melting facility to remove foreign markings, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted the syndicate on Wednesday and seized 9.67 kg of gold in various forms.
In addition to this, the DRI also seized Indian currency notes worth ₹1.92 crore and 1.9 lakh US Dollars, the total seizure amounted to ₹10.48 crore.
The agency nabbed four accused persons, including two African nationals who allegedly provided gold to it via carriers, the syndicate’s operator of a melting unit that processed smuggled foreign-origin gold for subsequent sale in the city and a man who coordinated its work, the agency sources said.
The agency’s crackdown on the syndicate began with the receipt of a specific intelligence suggesting that foreign-origin gold from African countries that were allegedly being smuggled into the city, through Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, was processed at a melting facility located at Zaveri Bazaar in the city, the sources said.
