The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested six persons and seized about 14 kg of smuggled gold worth ₹7 crore in simultaneous operations in three States.
Investigations have indicated that couriers were using bus routes to transport gold smuggled from Myanmar, assuming that there will be less security checks along the way due to COVID-19.
“Two of the accused persons were intercepted at Jewar Toll Plaza. They were on way to Delhi from Guwahati, via Siliguri and Patna. In all, 4.98 kg of gold was seized from them,” said a DRI official.
Simultaneously, DRI officials intercepted two others at the Siliguri bus station when they were boarding a Patna-bound bus. Thirty smuggled foreign-origin gold bars, weighing 4.98 kg, were found in their possession.
In Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, DRI officials arrested two persons. They had reached Patna from Guwahati via Siliguri by bus. They were carrying 24 smuggled gold bars of foreign origin.
“All the seized gold bars had been smuggled into India from Myanmar and were being carried to Delhi by passengers travelling in buses...the gold bars were found to have been concealed in the cavities made in the handles of stroller bags and inside the waist belts worn by the accused,” said the official.
There had been alerts from various international and national agencies about criminal syndicates exploring various ways to smuggle illegal goods, including drugs, counterfeit medicines and weapons, taking advantage of the pandemic.
