Mumbai: During the financial year 2023-24, DRI seized 1,319kg gold across the country in multiple cases, with the land route contributing 55% of the seizures and the air route around 36%. According to DRI data, smuggling syndicates have increasingly employed carriers to transport smaller quantities of gold, reducing potential losses in case of interception.
“Gold smuggling in India has evolved with smuggling syndicates now employing ‘mules’ with diverse profiles, including foreign nationals and families, alongside insiders. Smuggling syndicates even leverage international departure gates, where airport workers and other staff collude in smuggling gold from transit passengers. Air routes into India also remain a prominent method smugglers use, with Middle East and Southeast Asian countries traditionally being the major points of origin. Recently, airports in certain African and Central Asian countries have also emerged as key locations for smuggling operations,” the DRI stated in its report.
“India has become a major destination for illicit gold imports, with gold and silver predominantly originating from Gulf states such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where these metals are sourced and available at lower prices. Smuggling through India’s porous eastern borders, particularly with Bangladesh and Myanmar, has also emerged as a major concern for law enforcement agencies. Gold is smuggled into India through two primary methods: commercial smuggling, where export and import schemes are exploited to evade duties, and outright smuggling, where gold is concealed to avoid detection. Smuggling networks are highly organised, and the use of complex routes and well-coordinated operations makes gold smuggling into India a persistent challenge for enforcement agencies,” the report stated.
“Smugglers frequently use passengers to conceal gold innovatively, including hiding it in their clothing, luggage, or even within their bodies, to evade customs detection. Gold in bar and solid form remains a prevalent method of smuggling into India. Smuggling gold in paste form continues to be a significant challenge. Smugglers melt pure gold, adulterate it with impurities, transform it into a solution, dry it, and then convert it into a paste. This paste form is easier to smuggle, often disguised as harmless substances or hidden within legitimate goods,” the report stated.
