Operation Golden Drop: DRI busts airport gold-smuggling racket, seizes ₹4.8 crore haul

According to DRI officials, the syndicate used transit passengers arriving from foreign destinations to smuggle gold into the country through a sophisticated and clandestine network. The carriers allegedly ingested gold dust packed in wax and concealed inside egg-shaped capsules before landing in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a “highly organised” gold-smuggling syndicate operating through Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, seizing 3 kg of smuggled foreign-origin gold worth ₹4.8 crore and arresting a food outlet employee allegedly tasked with ferrying the contraband out of the airport.

Operation Golden Drop: DRI busts airport gold-smuggling racket, seizes ₹4.8 crore haul

According to DRI officials, the syndicate used transit passengers arriving from foreign destinations to smuggle gold into the country through a sophisticated and clandestine network. The carriers allegedly ingested gold dust packed in wax and concealed inside egg-shaped capsules before landing in Mumbai.

The smuggled gold was then allegedly handed over to a member of the cleaning staff employed at a food outlet within the airport premises. Investigators said the employee’s role was to discreetly collect the contraband and deliver it to designated receivers outside the airport while evading customs checks and surveillance.

The DRI seized the gold allegedly collected by the staffer and has launched a wider probe to identify other members of the syndicate and trace the network’s operations.

The Mumbai unit of the DRI had launched the operation after receiving specific intelligence inputs. Internally codenamed “Operation Golden Drop”, the crackdown exposed an alleged attempt by the syndicate to exploit the transit passenger channel and airport support systems to smuggle gold into India while bypassing customs duties and regulatory scrutiny.

“Investigation conducted so far has uncovered a sophisticated and meticulously coordinated modus operandi adopted by the gold-smuggling syndicate,” a DRI official said.

Officials said the operation underscores the agency’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, swift enforcement response and coordinated action against transnational smuggling networks, including insiders working within airport systems.

The crackdown also comes amid the Centre’s continued push to curb gold smuggling and protect the country’s economic interests, officials added.