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Gold in the gut: Tanda’s smuggling saga encapsulated
Revelations after racket bust: Jobless youths lured by promises of ₹20K to 50K per trip, recruited on tourist visas and trained to swallow capsules filled with gold paste, smuggled from Dubai
A subtle gesture at Dubai International Airport — a scratch on the ear, a raised hand — set in motion a demeanour of deceit. This discreet signal, unnoticed by most, was the linchpin of a transnational gold smuggling syndicate that turned poor young men in Tanda, a small town in UP’s Rampur district, into human mules, their bodies stuffed with gold capsules to feed India’s insatiable black market.
At 6:46pm on May 23, 2025, the Moradabad police arrested four men, exposing a network that exploited over 150 youths from Tanda. HT recently visited Rampur-Moradabad to delve into the gold smuggling network.
Death that unveiled horror
The syndicate’s unravelling began with a tragedy on February 12, 2025. Mohammad Alam, 32, from Tandola locality, collapsed in his family’s mud-brick home, clutching his stomach in agony. His mother, Ayesha Begum, mistook it for food poisoning from a roadside vendor. Rushed to Rampur’s district hospital, Alam’s condition baffled doctors until an emergency surgery revealed a horrifying truth: his intestines were clogged with 18 latex-wrapped capsules filled with gold paste, smuggled from Dubai.
The capsules had ruptured, causing internal bleeding and Alam died on the operating table. “We thought he was a labourer in Dubai...he was our only light,” Ayesha said, clutching his worn passport, its pages a roadmap of broken promises.
On May 23, the Moradabad police arrested four men — Zulfikar Ahmed, 30, Asif Khan, 26, Imran Qureshi, 28, and Rahim Siddiqui, 25 — part of a network of carriers from Tanda, each risking their lives to smuggle 200-250 grams of gold per trip through Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Each haul, worth ₹18-20 lakh in the black market, fuelled a syndicate that SP (city) Kumar Ranvijay Singh called “human trafficking disguised as smuggling.”
Displaying seized capsules at a press conference, Singh’s voice was heavy: “These youths are disposable containers, used and discarded for someone else’s profit.”
A clinical conspiracy
The syndicate operated with chilling precision, exploiting legal loopholes, lax airport security, and Tanda’s economic despair. Jobless men in their 20s, lured by promises of ₹20,000 to 50,000 per trip, were recruited on tourist visas. Travel agencies, operating as fronts, arranged flights to Dubai, where carriers stayed in luxury hotels.
There, they were trained to swallow six to eight oblong capsules, each weighing 30-35 grams. “The mules bypass screening,” Singh told HT. “A scratch on the ear, a raised hand — insiders at Dubai airport wave them through.” Back in India, carriers were whisked to safe houses in Moradabad or Rampur, where gold was retrieved via specially designed toilets fitted with steel mesh or through invasive medical procedures.
The process was perilous. Dr Shehzad Alam, a gastro laparoscopic surgeon, warned: “A ruptured capsule can cause fatal internal bleeding or sepsis.” Alam’s death was not unique; other smugglers have died during botched extractions. Some doctors, bribed to perform illegal surgeries, violate medical ethics to retrieve capsules, risking lives for profit. “It’s a death trap,” Dr Alam said.
Zulfikar, who confessed to 40 trips over seven years, described the ordeal: “They treat you like a king in Dubai —cash, hotels — but once the gold is delivered, you’re nothing.”
Tanda’s passport enigma
Tanda, a town of 40,000 adults, holds a bizarre distinction: Over 15,000 residents possess passports, a figure that screams anomaly. “This isn’t tourism; it’s a smuggling pipeline,” said a customs official. The syndicate secured passports through forged identities and corrupt officials at regional passport offices. A 2024 scandal saw 29 Tanda men flee Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport after a tip-off, abandoning luggage stuffed with contraband. Eight customs officers were suspended for negligence/complicity. “Passports are handed out like candy,” the official said.
The syndicate’s audacity peaked on May 23, when Moradabad police rescued six Dubai returnees abducted by a gang posing as customs officials. X-rays revealed 29 gold capsules weighing 1.135 Kilogram in four of the men’s stomachs, valued at over ₹90 lakh. The abductors, Taufiq Ansari, 34, from Moradabad and Raza Hussain, 29, from Kashipur, were injured in a police encounter near Bilaspur and arrested.
Their confessions revealed insider tips from airport staff, pointing to a deep nexus. “They knew exactly who to target. This was orchestrated with precision,” Singh said.
Roots of Ruin
Rampur’s smuggling ‘epidemic’ is rooted in its economic collapse. Once a textile hub, the district lost 8,000 jobs since 2020, with unemployment at 19.3% — nearly double India’s 10.2% average, as per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) 2024 data. Tanda’s looms lie silent, its youth idle. “This isn’t crime; it’s coercion,” said Tanda based social worker Mohd Shareef Jameel.
The syndicate’s kingpins, shielded by political connections, prey on this desperation. Police have identified eight financiers, including Zahid, a Moradabad-based property dealer with political connections, who allegedly funded trips and linked with jewellers craving Dubai’s high-purity gold.
Zahid, a former corporator, was arrested and his contacts are being traced. “The network spans the Middle East, western UP, and possibly Nepal. Some couriers flew via Kathmandu to dodge Indian scrutiny,” said SSP Satpal Antil.
India’s high gold import duties (12.5%) and GST (3%) fuel a ₹40,000-crore black market, as per customs estimates. Standard airport scanners, useless against internally concealed gold, give smugglers an edge. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game,” a customs official admitted. “They adapt faster than we can.”
Human toll
“The rescued carriers, under medical supervision in Moradabad, are victims as much as criminals,” said Rampur-based human rights activist Danish Khan. Imran, a first-time courier, was lured to fund his sister’s wedding. Rahim, a school dropout, supported his widowed mother. Their stories echo Tanda’s despair. Community leaders like Maulana Jalees Ahmed demand rehabilitation, but the government response is tepid. “Arrests won’t fix this. We need jobs, schools, hope,” Ahmed said.
Fragile future
As police deepen their probe, a joint task force with customs and ATS is tracing fake passports, hawala funding and links to South Asian organised crime. More arrests are imminent, but the syndicate’s global reach and political protection pose challenges. “This isn’t just a Rampur problem,” a senior intelligence officer said. “It’s a national security crisis.”
Tanda’s passport office, once a symbol of opportunity, now feels like a trap. Young men like Asif and his friend Bilal, who backed out of smuggling, dream of a future beyond this abyss. But without systemic change — jobs, education, security reforms — Shareef said, Tanda’s youth remain pawns in a deadly game, their lives traded for gold in the gut.
Syndicate’s audacity
The syndicate’s audacity peaked on May 23, when Moradabad police rescued six Dubai returnees abducted by a gang posing as customs officials. X-rays revealed 29 gold capsules weighing 1.135 Kilogram in four of the men’s stomachs, valued at over ₹90 lakh. The abductors, Taufiq Ansari, 34, from Moradabad and Raza Hussain, 29, from Kashipur, were injured in a police encounter near Bilaspur and arrested.
A darker nexus
The bust has raised alarms beyond smuggling. On May 19, the UP ATS arrested Shahzad Alam, a 38-year-old Tanda businessman, for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s ISI under the guise of smuggling cosmetics and spices. Shahzad confessed to sending youths to Pakistan for training, using smuggling networks as a cover. “Gold is just the tip of the iceberg. These networks could be conduits for espionage or arms trafficking, an ATS official said.
