DRI seizes 84 kg gold, 8 held

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, August 29

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized nearly 84 kg gold worth Rs43 crore from eight persons at the New Delhi Railway Station.

Acting on specific intelligence, the sleuths from Delhi Zonal Unit of the DRI intercepted eight passengers who reached New Delhi Railway Station on Friday by the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and seized from their possession 504 smuggled gold bars of foreign origin, said a top DRI official.

The gold bars were found to be concealed in specially tailored cloth vests worn by these carriers, the official said, adding that smugglers were traveling on fake identity (Aadhar card).

The intelligence inputs indicate that the recovered gold bars, carrying foreign markings, had been smuggled into India from Myanmar through the international land border at Moreh in Manipur and the smuggling syndicate operating from Guwahati was attempting to dispose of the contraband in the cities of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai which have thriving markets for the yellow metal and jewellery made therefrom.

The smuggling syndicate sourced and recruited poor and needy individuals from various parts of the country, to act as carriers of smuggled gold, by luring them with the prospect of quick and easy money.

The smugglers used air, land and rail routes to locally transport the smuggled gold.

The seized gold bars are of 99.9 per cent purity and collectively weigh 83.621 kg. The market value of the recovered contraband is close to Rs 43 crore, said the official.

The eight carriers have been arrested under the Customs Act, 1962 and remanded to judicial custody. Further investigation is in progress.