Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized smuggled gold bars weighing 6.5 kilograms at the Tiruchi international airport and arrested six persons in this connection on Tuesday.
Among the six arrested, three persons – G. Gopi (42), G. Gajendran (47) and R. Rajasundaram (29) – were alleged receivers who were waiting outside the terminal building. The value of the seized gold bars was put at ₹1.93 crore.
The gold bars were smuggled from Singapore to Tiruchi with the consignment having been brought in a couple of Tiger Airways flights.
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Acting on an information, separate teams of DRI officers from the Chennai zonal unit landed at the airport and intercepted a car bearing a Chennai registration number at the airport’s exit gate.
Checks conducted by DRI officers inside the car in which Gopi, Gajendran and Rajasundaram were on board led to the detection of smuggled gold bars. The gold bars were passed on to the trio by passengers who had arrived by a Tiger Airways flight.
Subsequently, the officers continued to mount vigil at the airport and held – Jayakumar, Krishnamurthy and Karthik– who arrived by another Tiger Airways flight in the early hours of Tuesday. Smuggled gold bars were also seized from them.
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The DRI officers totally seized gold bars weighing 6.5 kilograms from the operation and arrested six persons, the sources said.
While the air passengers were arrested and let on bail, the alleged receivers were arrested and remanded. Further investigations were on, said the sources.