₹19-cr gold seizure: Syndicate expected ₹7 lakh per kg for smuggled gold

The syndicate allegedly used to smuggle gold into India via the country’s international border with Bangladesh and then further diverted the same to Mumbai, Nagpur, and Varanasi, among other urban destinations

Mumbai: The international gold-smuggling syndicate, whose 31.7 kg of gold worth ₹19 crore was seized recently by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), was allegedly expecting to earn around 7 lakh per kg of such illicitly-procured gold, sources said on Thursday.

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The syndicate allegedly used to smuggle gold into India via the country’s international border with Bangladesh and then further diverted the same to Mumbai, Nagpur, and Varanasi, among other urban destinations, sources said. Some part of the smuggled gold was brought to Buxar, Bihar, from where the syndicate’s carriers were tasked to carry them to major Indian cities, sources said. “It is estimated that by smuggling the gold into the country via the Bangladesh border, the syndicate was expecting to earn around ₹6- ₹7 lakh per kilogram of such gold,” a source said.

The syndicate had allegedly employed a network of carriers in several states who carried gold for it in lieu of payments at the rate of ₹8, 000 to ₹20,000 per trip, sources said, adding that the carriers included men who allegedly were from humble backgrounds and in need of quick money. The DRI arrested 11 accused, including five in Mumbai, two in Varanasi and four in Nagpur, as part of its operation and is trying to trace the syndicate’s masterminds.

“In the ongoing investigation, more pieces of evidence are being gathered and the same needs to be investigated in the case that involves continued acts of smuggling in an organised manner by a syndicate operating on the national level,” the source said. “Key members of the syndicate, who purchased the gold for smuggling into India, are yet to be apprehended and attempts are on to trace them.”

Acting on specific intelligence, DRI teams had acted on October 13 against the syndicate that specialises in the smuggling of foreign-origin gold through a combination of land-train routes. The DRI Mumbai Zonal Unit team had traced five of the accused on the roads of Mumbai after they reached the city by train from Varanasi, allegedly carrying 4.9 kg of smuggled gold that was recovered from them.

The DRI Nagpur team had apprehended two alleged carriers of gold when they alighted at Nagpur railway station from a train that had left Kolkata. 8.5 kg of foreign-marked gold was allegedly recovered from them. After their interrogation, two alleged receivers of the smuggled gold were also identified and apprehended by the DRI team.

The DRI Varanasi team nabbed two of the accused after intercepting the car in which they were travelling in UP, with the help from the local police, after a three-hour dramatic chase on the streets and a search operation that covered a forested tract, DRI sources said.

About 18.2 kg of gold was allegedly recovered from the two persons and from a cavity made below the hand brake of the car. “The 11 accused persons covered all aspects of the gold smuggling syndicate as they played roles of being carriers /passengers, handlers and final recipients of the smuggled gold,” the sources said.