DRI seizes `21 cr smuggled gold, cash in Mum

ing, the official said.

The Air Cargo Complex in Andheri is India’s largest, in terms of the volume of cargo handled, the value of the cargo, documents filed and revenue collected.

First India Bureau

Mumbai: Working off specific information garnered as part of a bigger investigation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have seized 36kg of smuggled gold (worth Rs21 crore) along with Rs20 lakh in unaccounted cash from the Air Cargo Complex in suburban Andheri. They also arrested one suspect from the premises, an official said on Tuesday.

DRI officers conducted a search at the Air Cargo Complex Mumbai Customs on Monday and recovered smuggled gold in various stages of process -

While investigating cases of gold smuggling, the DRI had found out about a syndicate involved in the processing and distribution of smuggled gold, and the payment for these valuables was done through the hawala channel, he said.

The DRI then surveilled the travel pattern of a few foreign nationals and suspected Indians to bust the syndicate, the official said.

Officials seized 36kg of gold in various stages of processing, which was valued at Rs21 crore from the Air Cargo Complex. Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs20 lakh was recovered from the per- son in-charge of the premises and he was placed under arrest, the official said.

The accused has informed that he had procured the gold from different individuals, some of them foreign nationals, in the form