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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted another branch of a gold smuggling syndicate involved in the smuggling of foreign-origin gold through land and train routes and seized a huge quantity of smuggled gold weighing 13.7 kg valued at Rs 8.5 crore on October 30-31 from Mumbai and Varanasi, an official release said on Thursday.
According to the official release, a total of 5 people have been arrested, out of which 3 were arrested in Mumbai and 2 in Varanasi. Earlier, the DRI busted a gold smuggling syndicate in a pan-India operation, wherein 31.7 kg of gold was seized on October 13-14. In continuation of the said action, DRI busted another branch of the same syndicate that was attempting to smuggle gold via the land and rail routes. The DRI Mumbai team intercepted two individuals carrying smuggled gold by bus near Pune. 5 kg of smuggled gold was recovered from their possession late in the night of October 30. This operation revealed information regarding a handler based out of a village in Sangli district, as per the release. Acting swiftly, a search was conducted by DRI officers at his home early in the morning on October 31, which led to the information that two more carriers of the same syndicate are smuggling gold from Varanasi to Nagpur, the release added. Subsequently, the information was shared with the DRI Varanasi team, which swiftly initiated action and intercepted the two carriers, leading to the further seizure of 8.7 kg of smuggled gold on October 31, 2023. The concerted actions of the DRI Mumbai, Goa Regional Unit and Varanasi teams led to the recovery of a total of 13.7 kg of smuggled gold valued at Rs 8.5 crore. A total of 5 people have been arrested, out of which 3 were arrested in Mumbai and 2 in Varanasi. The operation is a manifestation of DRI's ability to undertake a coordinated approach to counter the flagrant attempts at smuggling by various syndicates, the release stated. (ANI)
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