INDIA. Mumbai: The officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a gold smuggling syndicate by recovering 36 kg gold worth Rs 21 crore, which was related to various cases of smuggling through the Airport and Sahar Air Cargo Complex, located at Andheri in North West Mumbai.
According to an official statement issued on Wednesday, during the raid on Monday, the DRI officers noted that the melting and processing of smuggled gold was taking place at the premises.
A thorough search of the premises led to the recovery of over 36 kg of unaccounted gold at various stages of processing. One person involved in processing the gold was arrested.
The arrested individual, who was in command of the location, admitted that he had bought the gold from a number of people, including foreigners, and transported it in the form of capsules using various equipment as well as body concealment techniques, travel bags, and layers of clothing.
He was also found in possession of unaccounted cash of more than Rs. 20 Lakh. A group of DRI operatives set up covert surveillance on the movements of a few foreigners and possible Indian citizens in order to dismantle the syndicate.
Additionally, it was learned that the Hawala channel was being used to pay for the aforementioned gold smuggling.
The gold was delivered to different domestic players on a daily basis according to the codes used by the syndicate, it was discovered during the inquiry.
Multiple pieces of evidence that pointed to various techniques of gold smuggling were discovered as a result of the search.
This instance demonstrates the effectiveness of appropriate monitoring and coordinated action by DRI officials in stopping a syndicate that smuggled gold into the nation in a variety of forms, according to an official statement.
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