DRI busts pan-India gold smuggling network, arrests 11; seizes gold worth ₹10.36 crore

The syndicate allegedly smuggled around 318 kg of gold worth ₹475 crore through the Indo-Bangladesh border since January using small courier consignments.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a pan-India gold smuggling syndicate, arresting 11 people and seizing 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold bars valued at ₹10.36 crore in a multi-city operation. The syndicate is suspected to have smuggled around 318 kg of gold, valued at ₹475 crore, since January by bringing it through the Indo-Bangladesh border and sending it in small courier consignments to Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.

The operation, internally named ‘Operation Border Bullion Bust’, involved simultaneous searches and interceptions in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Guwahati. (Representative Image)

The DRI’s Mumbai unit launched the operation after receiving intelligence that foreign-origin gold was being smuggled through the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Assam before being moved to other parts of the country through a courier network.

The operation, internally named ‘Operation Border Bullion Bust’, involved simultaneous searches and interceptions in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Guwahati on Wednesday.

According to officials, courier consignments containing smuggled gold were booked from Guwahati and Kolkata for delivery to Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. Seven recipients were apprehended across the cities, while three shippers were arrested in Kolkata.

The arrests led investigators to an alleged co-mastermind of the network, a jeweller from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra, who was subsequently arrested by the DRI in Mumbai.

The investigation revealed that the syndicate allegedly used multiple small courier consignments to transport foreign-origin gold from Guwahati and Kolkata to recipients in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. The gold was allegedly meant for sale in the domestic market without documentation.

The DRI seized 6.61 kg of gold bars valued at ₹10.36 crore under the Customs Act. Eleven people allegedly linked to the syndicate, including an alleged mastermind, have been arrested.

A preliminary examination of documents collected during the investigation has indicated that the network allegedly transported and delivered around 318 kg of smuggled gold worth ₹475 crore over the past nine months using the same modus operandi, officials said. The probe is continuing to identify other alleged accomplices and trace the wider network.