Big revelation of gold smuggling
Mumbai: In an important operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted an international gold smuggling racket at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Showing promptness, the DRI team has arrested a total of six people including three foreign nationals. Illegal gold worth about Rs 5 crore has been recovered from these accused. The captured foreign nationals include citizens of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Surprisingly, three staff members of the airport were also involved in this illegal activity, who have been detained. DRI suspects that the case is linked to a large international smuggling network.
Smuggling network and the role of airport staff
DRI had received intelligence that gold smuggling was taking place on a large scale through Mumbai Airport. Based on this information, the officials laid a trap and arrested the suspects. Investigation revealed that some of the foreign nationals arrested are Bangladeshi and some Sri Lankan. These smugglers were trying to bring gold to India by hiding it from abroad. To avoid the eyes of customs and security agencies at the airport, he had taken the help of three ground staff personnel of the airport. These employees were helping in taking the gold consignment out of the airport without checking in exchange for a huge amount.
DRI investigation and possible arrests
The gold recovered from the arrested accused has been confiscated, whose estimated value in the international market is around Rs 5 crore. According to senior DRI officials, this activity was going on for a long time with the connivance of the airport staff. The arrested accused are being thoroughly interrogated to find out who is the mastermind of this racket and how many times they have smuggled gold in this manner. Officials believe that more arrests can be made in this case and a big international syndicate can be exposed.
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