Mumbai: A father son jeweller duo was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials from the Zaaveri Bazaar of Mumbai in an alleged gold smuggling racket.
The duo identified as Dharamraj Bhosle and his son Suraj were arrested for melting smuggled gold at their workshop in Kalbadevi in a follow-up action by DRI probing seizure of 37 kgs gold valued at Rs 21 crore involving foreign nationals.
Mumbai Air Cargo Complex investigation
The operation is based on an information from DRI May 2022 seizure of 5 kg gold smuggled from Mumbai Air Cargo Complex investigation about a gold smuggling syndicate involving foreign nationals and hawala payments for payments abroad for contraband gold.
A discreet surveillance was mounted by a team of DRI officers on the travel pattern of few foreign nationals and suspected Indian nationals leading to raid at gold melting and processing workshop operating at Kalbadevi in Janaury 2023 and seizure of Rs 21 crores smuggled gold.
A sangli native Prashant Mainkar was arrested and confessed to have obtained gold from foreign nationals in the form of capsules carried through body concealment, travel bags and different types of machines.
Big achievement for DRI
This is a significant operation for DRI, as this is the first time in recent years the central agency has managed to bust the next layer of the gold smuggling racket. Earlier in the gold smuggling matter, customs and DRI would arrest the fliers at the city airport, but in the absence of any further leads, they had to close down the investigation then and there. The DRI is now focusing on unearthing the entire system of processing the smuggled gold and then its further distribution and sale in the black market.
DRI investigation has revealed that the smuggled gold was delivered to various domestic players on a daily basis based on the codes being operated by the syndicate. The search led to various pieces of evidence indicating the different methods of concealment for the smuggling of gold.
