Gold and silver bars worth ₹23 crore seized from airport

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 60 kilogrammes (kg) of gold bars and 58kg of silver bars with foreign markings, collectively worth ₹23.15 crore,

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 60 kilogrammes (kg) of gold bars and 58kg of silver bars with foreign markings, collectively worth ₹23.15 crore, from the cargo terminal at the domestic airport in Santacruz on Friday evening.

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The agency has refused to reveal the country from where the consignment was smuggled, claiming that it would hamper their investigation. It was addressed to two courier companies in the city. “No one has been arrested yet as the investigation is still on,” said a DRI officer.

Gold and silver are smuggled to India through different ports across the country and then brought to Mumbai through domestic airlines to escape the DRI’s radar. The smuggled gold and silver are sold in the city for cheaper rates, the DRI officer said. According to the agency, this was one of the biggest seizures it had made in 2018 and 2019. Earlier in March, DRI officers had raided several places in the city and arrested 14 people from Mumbai and Gujarat in connection with another international gold-smuggling racket. One of those arrested was the kingpin of the racket, Nishar Aliyar, who used to operate a syndicate and had smuggled more than 3,000kg of gold, worth around ₹1,000 crore, to India from July 2018 to March this year.

“Aliyar is a businessman and has firms in Dubai and the United States. He used to smuggle gold from Dubai by concealing them in brass scrap, which was being imported to India in containers. Once the consignment reached India, Aliyar’s conduits in the city would sell the smuggled gold in the black market for a fixed commission. The money obtained from the sale of gold was converted into Dirhams and sent to Dubai by a south Mumbai-based hawala operator,” said the officer.

In April, the DRI had busted a similar racket at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai and seized 163 gold bars weighing 19kg, worth ₹5.54 crore. The gold was allegedly smuggled by a firm named Shourya Exim from the United Arab Emirates to India in three scrap metal pipes. DRI officers had arrested the proprietor of the firm, Rajesh Bhanushali in the case.

On June 15, DRI had seized 32.28kg of gold bars, worth ₹10 crore, from the domestic airport after they intercepted 12 cargo consignments at Concor Air Ltd, a logistics company, at Santacruz airport. The seven people who were arrested in connection with the case told officers that gold was smuggled into the city by air and sold to the jewellers in Mumbai for huge profit margins.

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