Major Gold Smuggling Racket Busted by DRI; Eight Persons, Including Five African Women, Arrested

Sales proceeds from smuggled gold worth Rs 3.62 crore as well as Rs 2.95 crore cash and 2.1 kilograms of gold were seized following a raid by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on a gold melting facility and a jewellery shop, an official said on Thursday.

A DRI release said eight persons were arrested in this connection, including five women comprising four Kenyans and a Tanzanian who were used as carriers of the smuggled gold.

“Acting on specific intelligence, the DRI clandestinely searched the premises being used for melting smuggled gold followed by search at the premises of a jeweller who was the purchaser of the smuggled gold,” the release informed.

“During the searches, 2.1 of gold that was smuggled into India, USD 1 lakh amounting to Rs 84.15 lakh in Indian money, as well as Rs 2.32 crore cash, all of which are sale proceeds from smuggled gold, were seized from the melting facility and the jewellery shop in Mumbai,” the statement added.

The owner-cum-operator of the melting facility is a repeat offender who is wanted in other cases as well, it said. A strict vigil by the DRI led to searches in two hotels from where the accused hailing from Africa ran their business, the release said.

“It resulted in the recovery of foreign currency of USD 3,31,600 valued at Rs.2,78,70,980, and Rs 63,07,500 cash. These are sale proceeds from smuggled gold. The probe found a nexus between the five African women and the owner cum operator of the melting facility to divert smuggled gold and receive cash in foreign and Indian currency,” it said.

The gold was collected by aggregators from various carriers, mostly Kenyan and Tanzanians, which was then passed on for melting and further sale to jewellers for cash, the statement said.

“The money so collected by the melter was paid back to the aggregators, who used to divide the money among the various carriers. This is a very significant bust of smuggling syndicates involving African nationals as carriers,” the statement said.

In Aril this year, another such syndicate, which used Sudanese nationals as carriers, was busted by the DRI.