Chennai: 23kg of smuggled gold seized, 4 arrested
The Chennai team of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 23.1 kg of gold smuggled into India from Sri Lanka at Egmore Railway Station. The police have arrested four persons in this regard. During questioning, the accused admitted that they had gold bars concealed around their waist in specially designed pouches, a statement issued by DRI said. Here are more details.
Accused were carrying 123 gold bars worth Rs. 7cr
The accused were carrying 123 gold bars, totally weighing 23.1 kg. The value of the bars is about Rs. 7 crore, the DRI statement said. The DRI sleuths acted on specific intelligence that a syndicate was smuggling gold from Sri Lanka into India by boat and that some persons would be reaching the city with gold by Rameswaram-Chennai Sethu Express.
Other cases where DRI seized smuggled gold in India
On 27 February, DRI had seized 19.27 kg of smuggled gold from two persons on a motorcycle near TN's Jegathapattinam. The duo was later arrested. In another case, the agency had seized 11 kg gold smuggled into India through Tiruchirapalli airport. In the 2017-18 fiscal, DRI Chennai seized 193 kg of gold, valued at Rs. 57 crore in 31 cases and arrested 53 people.
Most of the gold was smuggled by boats
According to the DRI, more than half of the gold seized this year (about 103 kilograms) was smuggled by boats from Sri Lanka through the Tamil Nadu coast, and in connection to this 22 people were arrested.
