DRI seizes smuggled gold worth ₹6.28 cr, arrests 3 Iranians

The Mumbai unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized smuggled gold worth ₹6.28 crore, allegedly from three Iranian passengers who arrived at Mumbai’s international airport from Dubai.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized smuggled gold worth ₹6.28 crore, allegedly from three Iranian passengers who arrived at Mumbai’s international airport from Dubai. The agency seized the recovered gold, weighing 7.14 kilogram, and arrested the three Iranian passengers under the provisions of the Customs Act.

DRI seizes smuggled gold worth ₹6.28 cr, arrests 3 Iranians

The DRI had acted on specific intelligence that three Iranian nationals travelling from Dubai to Mumbai could be carrying smuggled valuables and had intercepted them. The searches resulted in the recovery of seven foreign-marked bars, each weighing around a kilogram, and a cut piece of a foreign-marked gold bar, DRI sources said.

The smuggled gold pieces were allegedly concealed in waist bags hidden underneath the clothes worn by two of the three passengers. During their alleged voluntary statements, these two passengers admitted to smuggling the gold at the behest of the third passenger for monetary benefits. The same was corroborated by the third passenger on being questioned, the sources said.

“The 7.143 kg of smuggled gold, valued at ₹6.28 crore, was seized and the three passengers were arrested. The probe is underway to identify their associates, in India or abroad,” a DRI source said.

Last week, the DRI, in a separate operation, seized smuggled gold worth ₹4.14 crore, allegedly from four female passengers who arrived at the Mumbai airport from Nairobi, Kenya. The DRI acted on the basis of specific intelligence that female members of a Kenyan gold smuggling syndicate would attempt to smuggle gold into India from Nairobi.