Bengaluru, April 9: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) have busted an international racket involved in gold smuggling using transit aircraft.
Gold worth Rs 5 crore seized, five arrested
The DRI officials have seized three kg of pure gold worth over Rs 5 crore and arrested five members of the gang, who helped the syndicate transport the gold out of the airport.
Insider involvement and modus operandi
The DRI officials say that some insiders in BIAL were also involved with the syndicate, which is being operated from neighbouring Bangladesh. The insiders helped the smugglers transport the gold without customs checking.
Interestingly, the gang members used smoking areas and washrooms to transfer the gold from the smugglers to their local contacts at the airport and used encrypted and vanishing messages to communicate.
Use of transit passengers and coded communication
The DRI officials, who had kept watch at Terminal 2 of KIA, had credible information about the gold smuggling. The smugglers used to come on a transit flight to Bengaluru.
While waiting for the connecting flight at KIA, they used to communicate with their local contacts using encrypted messages in coded language with passcodes.
They used to meet either in washrooms or in smoking zones, where the traveller would hand over the gold to the insiders. The insiders at the airport would transport the gold outside through their private channels.
Investigation expands beyond India
The DRI officials said that the smuggling was being operated by an international racket. At the moment, they have information about a few operators in Bangladesh. So far, five people have been arrested, and they are on the lookout for the other members of the racket.
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Besides, the DRI officials have identified the person at the airport who was helping them transport gold without customs clearance. The present haul of gold was in the form of paste and was concealed in small capsules. The encrypted communication mode of the racket was highly advanced.
