Mumbai, July 16: Officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have busted an international gold smuggling syndicate and on Thursday arrested six persons, including three Philippines nationals. The syndicate was allegedly being run with the connivance of private persons working at the airport premises.
Six Arrested In DRI Operation
Those arrested have been identified as Bhandup resident Himanshu Upadhyay (25), Kurla residents Mohid Hasan Siddiqui (32) and Feroz Sayyed (47), and Philippines nationals Lakim Alimudin Nasser (35), Benny Lloyd Olivo (35) and Christine Joy Andaya Pornasdoro (35).
According to DRI sources, specific intelligence was received that Himanshu Upadhyay, a contractual airport staff member allegedly involved in gold smuggling through Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, would be delivering smuggled gold to another staff member at the airport premises. Based on the intelligence, DRI officers nabbed Upadhyay while he was discreetly handing over two black pouches to Mohid Siddiqui.
On being questioned about the contents of the black pouches, Upadhyay informed the officers that he had received the pouches containing smuggled gold dust in wax form from Feroz Sayyed, who works as a store manager at a store in the international departure hall. Thereafter, the officers identified the transit passenger who had handed over the pouches.
The intercepted transit passenger was identified as Lakim Alimudin Nasser. Thereafter, Feroz Sayyed informed the DRI officers that two more passengers were waiting in the departure as well as transit area of CSMIA for further delivery once the first delivery was successful, which was allegedly part of the syndicate's plan to reduce the risk of interception by Customs officers.
Gold Worth Rs 7.50 Crore Seized
DRI officers then intercepted Philippines nationals Christine Joy Andaya Pornasdoro and Benny Lloyd Olivo, and recovered two similar pouches containing gold in wax form from their possession. The officials seized four gold bars weighing 5,251 grams, valued at around Rs 7.50 crore.
Upadhyay, Sayyed and Siddiqui informed the DRI that all of them were working on the instructions of an individual allegedly running the gold smuggling syndicate. Sayyed's role was to collect the smuggled gold from transit passengers and hand it over to Upadhyay, who would then pass it on to Siddiqui for delivery outside the airport.
The three transit passengers told the DRI that they were working for a gold smuggling syndicate that smuggled gold through transit passengers from Dubai and Bangkok to Mumbai with the help of some persons working at CSMIA.
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Accused Raise Legal Questions
"The three foreign nationals are bona fide international transit passengers travelling from the Philippines to Thailand. They neither intended to enter India nor had they crossed immigration for entry into the country. In such circumstances, the prosecution's allegation of 'smuggling into India' raises serious legal questions, particularly when the passengers were in transit and had not approached Customs for clearance. The legal obligation to declare goods arises in accordance with the Customs Act and applicable procedures, and whether such an obligation existed in the present case is a matter that requires judicial scrutiny. We are confident that these issues will be placed before the learned Metropolitan Magistrate in our bail application, and we believe the rule of law and due process will prevail," said Advocate Prabhakar Tripathi, counsel for the accused.
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