In a pan-India operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a gold smuggling syndicate of Sudanese nationals operating through the Nepal border, officials said. The DRI, in different interceptions in Patna, Pune, and Mumbai seized a total of 101.7 kg of smuggled gold valued at about Rs 51 crore. The seized gold, mostly in paste form, was being brought to Patna through the India-Nepal border and then transported via train or by air to different parts of the country, largely to Mumbai.
The DRI officials intercepted three Sudanese nationals late at night on February 19 while boarding a train from Patna railway station for Mumbai. Paste containing gold weighing 37.126 kg in 40 packets was recovered from two Sudanese nationals who had ingeniously concealed it in specially made cavities of the sleeveless jackets worn by them. The third person was the handler coordinating the smuggling activity at the border area and arranging the transport of the smuggled gold.
The second set of two Sudanese female nationals was held on February 20 in Pune while travelling from Hyderabad to Mumbai via bus and 5.615 kg of gold in assorted forms was recovered from them concealed in their handbags. The third set of two Sudanese nationals travelling to Mumbai from Patna was intercepted at Mumbai railway station on the same day. Paste containing gold weighing 38.76 kg in 40 packets was recovered from the 2 Sudanese who had concealed it in a similar fashion.
Acting swiftly on the leads provided by the smugglers/carriers, the DRI officers recovered about 20.2 kg of smuggled gold in assorted forms along with Rs 74 lakh worth of foreign currency and Rs 63 lakh in Indian currency from different premises in Mumbai being used for extraction/storage of smuggled gold. Three persons were apprehended in this follow-up action.
DRI has earlier unearthed various novel modus operandi of smuggling foreign-origin gold into India such as from the north-eastern parts of the country either through courier routes of logistics companies, using concealment methods in vehicles, in person by bus, train, flight, etc, or recovery of gold from the seabed in Tamil Nadu coast after it was thrown away by smugglers from a fishing boat, etc, apart from the traditional modes used by crooks. In the present operation, codenamed Golden Dawn, DRI seized a total of approximately 101.7 kg of gold, valued at Rs 51 crore, along with Rs 74 lakh-worth foreign currency and Rs 63 lakh of Indian currency, and has arrested 7 Sudanese and 3 Indian nationals so far. Further investigation is in progress, officials said.
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