DRI busts major gold smuggling syndicate in pan-India operation

Based on specific intelligence their Nagpur team intervened and apprehended two carriers of gold, DRI officials said. The two were nabbed as they alighted a train at Nagpur railway station.

Officials said they seized 8.5 kg foreign marked gold from them. After interrogation of the two nabbed, officials were able to identify and apprehend the two persons who were to receive the smuggled gold.

Simultaneously, the Varanasi DRI team received a tip off and managed to nab two other accused. DRI officials chased them in their vehicles, and caught them with the assistance of local Uttar Pradesh police. “After a three-hour dramatic chase on the road and a search operation inside the forest, DRI recovered about 18.2 kg gold from the two, which was hidden in a cavity made below the hand brake of the car,” the DRI said.

Another group of five persons were caught in Mumbai after they arrived in the city from Varanasi by train. “They were caught with 4.9 kg of gold,” said an officer.

DRI officials said the syndicate has been smuggling gold into India via the Bangladesh border, and diverted to Mumbai, Varanasi, Nagpur and other places for sale. “With due diligence and coordinated action, a total of 11 persons have been arrested, of which five were arrested in Mumbai, two in Varanasi and four in Nagpur. These 11 accused cover all rungs of the gold smuggling syndicate, which are–carriers/ passengers, handlers, and final recipients of the smuggled gold,” the DRI said.

The agency further added that this operation testified to the ability of DRI to work professionally to unearth syndicates that pose a threat to the nation’s economic security. It also highlights the results of inter-agency cooperation in a pan-India operation.