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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a Pan-India gold smuggling syndicate and seized 6.61 kg of foreign-origin smuggled gold worth approximately Rs 10.36 crore, arresting 11 persons, including one of the alleged masterminds.
As per the official release issued by the Ministry of Finance, the syndicate operated through the courier network and had transported 318 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 475 crore through courier channels in the past nine months. Acting on specific intelligence regarding regular smuggling of foreign-origin gold through the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Assam, followed by its transportation to different parts of the country through courier consignments, DRI mounted a coordinated multi-city operation on 2324.09.2026. Simultaneous interceptions and searches were conducted at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Guwahati. During the operation, live courier consignments containing smuggled gold, booked from Guwahati and Kolkata for delivery in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad, were intercepted. Seven recipients of the consignments were apprehended, while simultaneous searches at the premises of the shippers in Kolkata led to the apprehension of three more persons. 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 investigation revealed that the syndicate was splitting smuggled gold into multiple small courier consignments for transportation from Guwahati and Kolkata to different recipients in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad for disposal in the domestic market. The shippers and recipients were found to be paper entities/persons without any legitimate gold transactions, indicating the deliberate use of the courier network to conceal and distribute the smuggled gold. 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. Eleven persons associated with the syndicate have been arrested. Significantly, the preliminary scrutiny of documentary evidence has revealed the staggering scale of the syndicates operations: in just nine months of the current calendar year, approximately 318 kg of smuggled gold, valued at around Rs 475 crore, had already been transported and delivered through the same courier-based network. Further investigation is underway. The operation highlights DRI's continued focus on disrupting organised gold-smuggling networks at every stage of the supply chain, including the use of unconventional logistics and courier channels for distribution of smuggled gold across the country. (ANI)
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