The over 30% increase in the price of gold in India has led to a spurt in smuggling in the past one year and enforcement agencies seizing more than 1,600 kg of gold from across the country.
“The share of middlemen and carriers goes up with the increase in gold price. Most of the smuggled gold of foreign origin is ultimately traced to Dubai or Thailand. Gold is currently worth about ₹50 lakh per kg in India,” said a customs official.
On Friday, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized about 33 kg of gold worth ₹17.51 kg from a truck in West Bengal’s Siliguri district and arrested four persons. The consignment was smuggled in from Myanmar via Manipur and was destined to Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan.
2,112 cases
Till August this year, as many as 2,112 cases of gold seizures were reported by various agencies. About 484 kg of gold was seized in February, while in March the figure was 205.81 kg and 280.66 kg in April. However, due to the lockdown measures, no seizures were made in May and only 37.54 kg of gold was impounded in June.
“Gold is smuggled through both the air and land routes. International flights were banned as part of the lockdown guidelines. Therefore, the land routes have become more active. A spurt in the gold smuggling through the Indo-Myanmar, Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bangladesh borders has been noticed,” the official said.
Delhi haul
In August, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested eight persons with 504 gold bars weighing 83.62 kg worth ₹43 crore at the New Delhi railway station. They were on board the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.
The gold bars were smuggled in from Myanmar via Manipur, through a Guwahati-based syndicate and were destined for major cities like Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai for disposal.
Two more major seizures of 10.30 kg and 26.56 kg were made on the Imphal-Moreh Road, close to the Myanmar border, and at the New Jalpaiguri railway station. In both the cases, the agency suspects that the gold was smuggled in from Myanmar.
The same month, a total of 101 cases with the seizure of about 185 kg of gold was reported by the agencies.
Five more cases were reported by the DRI in September, including two from Guwahati and one from Siliguri. “In July, 15kg of gold was seized by the agency in Kolkata,” the official said, adding that the number of seizures had increased after the lockdown restrictions were lifted.
In July, the enforcement agencies registered 104 cases and seized 127.70 kg of gold. The same month, on July 5, 30 kg of gold was seized by the Customs Department from a diplomatic bag at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. The bag was to be delivered at the UAE Consulate. Multiple agencies are now probing the case, which has resulted in several arrests.
