DRI busts pan-India gold smuggling network, seizes gold worth Rs 10 cr

The DRI busted a major pan-India gold smuggling network, seizing 6.6 kg of gold worth over Rs 10 crore. The operation, spanning multiple cities, led to the arrest of 11 individuals, including a key mastermind behind the illicit syndicate.

In a major crackdown on illicit precious metal operations, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence busted a pan-India gold smuggling network and seized around 6.6 kg of foreign-origin gold worth more than Rs 10 crore, with officials arresting 11 individuals, including a key mastermind behind the operations.

The Coordinated Crackdown

According to the Ministry of Finance, the coordinated multi-city action targeted a syndicate that funnelled foreign-origin gold through border areas and used conventional domestic courier channels to move consignments across commercial hubs.

The enforcement action began after officers developed intelligence on a continuous flow of foreign-origin gold being smuggled through the Indo-Bangladesh border along West Bengal and Assam. To catch the handlers, the agency mounted a simultaneous multi-city operation spanning Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Guwahati on September 23 and 24. Officials intercepted active courier packages originating from Guwahati and Kolkata that were addressed to recipients in Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.

"Seven recipients of the consignments were apprehended, while simultaneous searches at the premises of the consignors/shippers in Kolkata led to the apprehension of three more persons," the Ministry of Finance noted regarding the initial phase of the operation.

Officers quickly expanded their enforcement net to track down the leadership driving the logistics. "In a swift follow-up action, one of the masterminds coordinating the dispatch and delivery of the smuggled gold was also apprehended in Mumbai," the Ministry stated.

Syndicate's Modus Operandi

Investigators established that the syndicate systematically divided large quantities of smuggled gold into smaller packages to avoid raising suspicion within courier streams. These parcels were sent from Guwahati and Kolkata to diverse receivers in western and northern markets for swift disposal in domestic trading centres.

Field verifications showed that both the senders and the consignees operated entirely as paper entities without any genuine gold-trading business, pointing to deliberate concealment.

Massive Seizure and Full Scale Revealed

"A total of 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold in bar form, valued at approximately Rs. 10.36 crore, was recovered from the intercepted consignments and seized under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962," the Ministry stated, confirming the formal arrest of 11 persons linked to the network.

A preliminary scrutiny of records revealed the full magnitude of the illegal pipeline. "In just nine months of the current calendar year, approximately 318 kg smuggled gold, valued at around Rs. 475 crore, had already been transported and delivered through the same courier-based network," the Ministry stated. (ANI)

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