DRI seizes 80 kg smuggled gold from IGIA; Chinese national, 3 others nabbed

New Delhi: Over 80 kg gold worth nearly Rs 40 crore, being smuggled into the country by concealing it inside imported machinery parts, has been seized by DRI officials at the airport here, according to an official statement issued on Friday.

Four foreign nationals — two South Koreans, one Chinese and a Taiwanese have been apprehended in the case, it said.

Later, in a swift follow-up operation, further recovery of 5.409 kgs of foreign-origin gold smuggled into India adopting a similar modus operandi, was made from a Delhi-based jeweller, the statement issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said.

The recovered gold, totally weighing 85.535 kgs, valued at approximately Rs 42 crore, has been seized, it said.

In an intelligence operation code-named molten metal', several Indian and foreign (Chinese, Taiwanese, South-Korean) nationals suspected to be indulging in smuggling gold into India from Hong Kong using the air cargo route, were identified, the DRI said.

The intelligence indicated that the gold smuggled in the form of machinery parts was being melted and moulded into bar/cylinder shapes before being disposed of in the local market, it said. Acting upon the said intelligence, DRI officers examined an import consignment at the air cargo complex of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here.