Gold dust inside capsules inside tumbler: Big bust worth ₹3.89 crore at Mumbai airport

A search of his luggage revealed 12 capsules containing gold dust mixed with wax, weighing a total of 3.05 kg.

Updated on: Jan 1, 2026, 12:14:41 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Wednesday intercepted a gold smuggling attempt at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, seizing gold valued at ₹3.89 crore, officials said.

Tests confirmed that the gold was 24-carat and worth nearly ₹3.89 crore, (ANI)

Based on specific intelligence, DRI officers stopped a passenger arriving from Bahrain, and a search of his luggage revealed 12 capsules containing gold dust mixed with wax, weighing a total of 3.05 kg, news agency PTI reported.

The capsules had been hidden inside a water tumbler in an effort to avoid detection. Tests confirmed that the gold was 24-carat and worth nearly ₹3.89 crore, the official added.

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The seized gold has been taken into custody, and an investigation is ongoing to identify the network behind the smuggling attempt.

This case marks another crackdown by the DRI against attempts to illegally bring precious metals into India.

Earlier, HT reported that DRI arrested two contractual staff members at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and recovered 1.20 kg of smuggled gold worth around ₹1.60 crore. Officers of the Mumbai zonal unit of the DRI, said they had received a tip off that foreign-origin gold was being smuggled within aircrafts and retrieved at CSMIA by the airport staff. In a discreet operation set up to monitor the smuggling, the DRI officials searched the cleaning staff of an airport services company after the passengers had deboarded and they had finished cleaning the aircraft.

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DRI officials said that one of the staff members, seeing them and anticipating a search, rushed up to the aerobridge staircase and left a package in a corner before joining the rest. When officials recovered the packet they found 1.2 kg of packets of gold dust dissolved into wax. The DRI later found that the gold had a 24-karat purity and was valued at approximately ₹1.60 crore.

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HT News Desk
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