DRI arrests four members of a gold smuggling gang and seizes ₹4.84 crore worth of gold at Mumbai’s CSMIA | File Photo
Mumbai: The officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday busted a four member gang that was instrumental in gold smuggling. Some of the gang members who work at the airport would collect the gold from transit passengers and would smuggle the gold out of the airport. The said gold was then sold in the local market. The agency sleuths have seized smuggled gold worth Rs 4.84 crore from the gang members.
The arrested persons have been identified as Juhu resident A.A. Oganiya, Uran resident V.V. Patil, A. Fahad, a resident of Kasaragod, Kerala and Thane resident R.S. Jadhav.
According to the DRI sources, specific intelligence was developed that two persons Oganiya and Patil working at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, are part of gold smuggling syndicate operated by R.S. Jadhav.
It was further learnt that the said two persons will collect consignments of illicit gold from the international transit passengers in the departure terminal of CSMIA and will smuggle the same out of the airport to deliver the same to their syndicate handlers outside the airport.
“Both the individuals were identified and intercepted by the DRI officers in the parking lot of the airport. On interception, Oganiya was receiving continuous calls from the mastermind who was waiting for the delivery of the smuggled gold. Trap was laid to identify the mastermind who was waiting outside the airport for the delivery. The mastermind Jadhav was identified and intercepted along with Fahad who was present with him. Falad who was supposed to take delivery of the said gold hence he was also apprehended,” said a DRI source.
“Further, during the personal search of socks and innerwear of the Oganiya and Patil it was found that they were carrying gold dust in wax form. Gold having net weight of 6050 grams valued at Rs. 4.84 crore was recovered and seized from them. Patil stated that he along with was working on the directions of Jadhav and had aided the smuggling racket by receiving the smuggled gold from the transit passengers on the direction of Jadhav and were to delivery the smuggled gold weighing 6.3 kgs to Jadhav for further delivery in black market. The accused persons have accepted that they were engaged in gold smuggling for monetary benefits,” the official added.
“In the ongoing investigation, more evidence is being gathered and the same needs to be investigated. Other key members of the syndicate are yet to be apprehended and all- out efforts are being made in this regard. The involvement of other key members, source of smuggled gold, smuggling modus, money trails etc. are yet to be investigated. The investigation requires an in-depth analysis of the evidence and the confrontation of the accused to uncover the full extent of the syndicates operations. The accused have not disclosed the complete facts pertaining to the syndicate and its members, indicating that crucial information is still being withheld,” the official said.
