Deep divers engaged by the Indian Coast Guard and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Chennai, on Thursday, February 9, 2023 recovered a gold consignment of 17.74 kg, worth ₹10.5 crore, which was dumped into the sea near Mandapam by three persons who were smuggling it from Sri Lanka in a boat.
Acting on a tip-off from the DRI, sleuths of the agency, along with the Indian Coast Guard Station, Mandapam, had maintained surveillance in the Gulf of Mannar for two days for suspicious activity since Tuesday.
They had received inputs that a gang from Vedhalai/Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district was planning to smuggle huge quantities of gold from Sri Lanka. Three persons were to reportedly collect the gold in the high seas in a fishing boat and land in the Mandapam coast.
When the joint team of officials found a suspicious boat and tried to intercept it with the Coast Guard interceptor boat on Wednesday night, the boat tried to escape at a high speed. However, the officials intercepted it. Upon searching the boat, the officials found no contraband and suspected that it could have been thrown into the sea.
The officials picked up three suspects and interrogated them. Consequently, the ICG deployed scuba divers and searched for the contraband. However, the search operation did not bear fruit on Wednesday.
The officials resumed the operation with deep divers from Thoothukudi and recovered the contraband from the seabed on Thursday afternoon.
The officials found that 14 packages of foreign origin gold in various forms — bars, chains, sticks — were tied in a towel. The fishing boat, along with the three persons, has been handed over to the Coast Security Group, Mandapam.
