DRI Busts Multi-State Smuggling Rings Across India
Revenue Intelligence officers seized gold, silver, narcotics and firearms in coordinated operations spanning Delhi, Mumbai, Mizoram, Punjab and Chennai
Synopsis
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, in a coordinated nationwide operation, recovered 1,318 nos of gold, 372 nos of silver, 564 nos of methamphetamine, 18,000 nos of smuggled cigarettes and 24 nos of drone dropped weapons from foreign origin from Delhi, Mumbai, Mizoram, Punjab and Chennai. Arrested in the precious-metals operations were 13 people, with other arrests for narcotics and arms laws.
AdvertisementEditor's note: Our original brief described a single operation combining gold and silver seizures across all five locations. Verified reporting indicates the precious-metals seizures were concentrated in Delhi and Mumbai, while Mizoram, Punjab and Chennai were linked to separate narcotics, cigarette and arms operations conducted as part of the same nationwide crackdown. This article reflects the corrected breakdown.
Precious Metals: Delhi and Mumbai
The police officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had apprehended 13 people across the country, including 15 kg of smuggled gold and 20 kg of silver worth Rs 22 crore, and Rs 2 crore in cash, the finance ministry said. In the July 17, New Delhi, raid, the officers recovered approximately 5 kg of gold of foreign origin and 20 kg of silver worth about Rs 7.37 crore along with Rs 2.20 crore in Indian currency, which they believe to be sale proceeds. Two persons were arrested in that case.
AdvertisementAbout Rs 1.35 crore gold was recovered from a passenger who was coming from Bagdogra airport, who had ingeniously hidden it in the metallic frame rods of his bag, a day earlier, when DRI officers at IGI airport arrested him.
There are conceals methods, and the word ingeniously concealed is repeated throughout DRI statements, as in the technique of smuggling in gold dust in the wax or hollowed out luggage frames.
In Mumbai separately, DRI was able to bust a syndicate smuggling gold in 24-carat form in wax, valued around Rs 7.50 crore, through the airport and recovered about 5 kg of it from three foreign nationals involved in the smuggling.
The gold dust was hidden in the clothing worn by airport employees and then transported by the staff through an array of compromised individuals, including three airport employees out of six arrested.
AdvertisementNarcotics and Arms: Mizoram, Mumbai, Punjab, Chennai
There was another parallel set of operations that dealt with other contraband. DRI has busted 15 kg of methamphetamine in Mizoram, 85 lakh smuggled cigarettes valued at Rs 20 crore in Mumbai, two pistols dropped from a drone by the Pakistani side in Punjab and 4kg of pseudoephedrine in Chennai, arresting five individuals.
The investigators suspect the drugs were smuggled into Mizoram from Myanmar via Zokhawthar sector, which is also a known route for drug trafficking. Almost 85 lakh sticks of imported foreign-made cigarettes were discovered in Mumbai in an import container called "Plastic Storage Boxes" that arrived from Dubai.
In Amritsar of Punjab, officers found two parcels of pistols, with magazines, dropped by drone near the international border and handed over to local police, which are made in Pakistan.
Why It Matters
They represent India's multi-faceted smuggling problem – from precious metals being smuggled through the insider network of airports, to narcotics through Myanmar's floppy borders and weapons being dropped from aircraft over the Punjab border – a technique adopted more often in recent years and that poses a distinct national-security threat to India in addition to revenue leakage.
Outlook
In the wake of the Mumbai case, DRI has indicated it will stay in focus and the smuggling of drones into Pakistan from the Punjab border could again be a topic of interest for Pakistan's border security agencies.
