Mumbai: DRI arrests father-son duo from Zaveri Bazar in gold smuggling case

In January this year, the central agency busted a gold smuggling syndicate that also involved foreign nationals and raided a workshop in Kalbadevi where the melting and processing of smuggled gold was taking place. DRI had then seized 36kg of unaccounted gold worth Rs 21 crore.

This is a significant operation for DRI, as this is the first time in recent years the central agency has managed to bust the next layer of the gold smuggling racket. Earlier in the gold smuggling matter, customs and DRI would arrest the fliers at the city airport, but in the absence of any further leads, they had to close down the investigation then and there. The DRI is now focusing on unearthing the entire system of processing the smuggled gold and then its further distribution and sale in the black market.

The entire operation of DRI is based on the information obtained from the investigations related to a May 2022 case in which DRI seized 5kg of smuggled gold from the Air Cargo Complex, Mumbai.

On further working out the information, intelligence was developed about a gold smuggling syndicate that involves foreign nationals. The syndicate is involved in the processing and distribution of smuggled gold. The syndicate members would use hawala channels for payment of smuggled gold, the DRI said.

Based on this intelligence, discreet surveillance was mounted by a team of DRI officers on the travel patterns of a few foreign and Indian nationals, and the gold workshop in Kalbadevi was raided.

The person in charge of the unit, Prashant Mainkar, a Sangali native, was then arrested. During questioning, he admitted that he had obtained the gold from various individuals, including foreign nationals, in the form of capsules carried through body concealment, travel bags, and different types of machines, among others. Unaccounted cash worth more than Rs 20 lakh was seized from his possession.

Further investigation has revealed that the gold was delivered to various domestic players on a daily basis based on the codes being operated by the syndicate. The search led to various pieces of evidence indicating the different methods of concealment for the smuggling of gold, the DRI said.

The agency is looking for the other wanted members of the syndicate.