New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a pan-India gold smuggling syndicate that allegedly used courier networks to transport smuggled gold across the country, seizing 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold worth about Rs 10.36 crore and arresting 11 persons, including one of the alleged masterminds, according to an official statement on Monday.
The operation which was carried out based on specific intelligence inputs, targeted a network involved in smuggling gold through the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Assam before distributing it to major markets through courier consignments, according to the Finance Ministry.
The ministry further noted that coordinated searches and interceptions were conducted simultaneously in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Guwahati.
During the operation, DRI officials intercepted live courier consignments containing smuggled gold that had been booked from Guwahati and Kolkata for delivery in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.
Seven recipients were apprehended, while searches at the premises of consignors in Kolkata led to the arrest of three more persons.
Moreover, a subsequent operation in Mumbai resulted in the arrest of one of the key coordinators of the network.
Investigators found that the syndicate had adopted a strategy of splitting smuggled gold into multiple small consignments and dispatching them through courier channels to recipients in different cities for disposal in the domestic market.
The investigation also showed that both the shippers and the recipients were acting as paper companies or private individuals without engaging in any legal gold trading, suggesting a conscious effort to hide the source and flow of gold that was smuggled through courier services.
DRI recovered and seized a total of 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold bars valued at around Rs 10.36 crore under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
In a significant development, preliminary examination of documentary evidence suggested that the syndicate had transported and delivered nearly 318 kg of smuggled gold worth around Rs 475 crore through the same courier-based network during the first nine months of the current calendar year, the ministry said.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network and trace the proceeds and distribution channels linked to the smuggled gold, it added.
--IANS
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