Guwahati: Organised gold smuggling syndicates in the Northeast in particular have been blunted by teams from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of late.
During the fiscal year 2021-22, the DRI carried out intensive operations across the country and seized 833 kg of gold valued at Rs 405 crore.
“Of this, in the Northeastern states alone, the DRI has seized more than 208 kg gold, valued at Rs 102.6 crore, smuggled through the highly sensitive India-Myanmar and India-Bangladesh border,” an official statement said.
In another significant operation (code-named “Gold on the Highway”) by the directorate against organised gold smuggling syndicates, 15.93 kg of foreign-origin gold smuggled through the India-Myanmar border was seized along the national highway between Guwahati and Dimapur on Thursday.
The seized gold has been valued at Rs 8.38 crore.
“Acting on the basis of specific intelligence, officers of the DRI mounted discreet surveillance on two oil tankers and a truck travelling separately from Mao in Manipur to Guwahati. The vehicles were intercepted simultaneously at different points along the national highway between Dimapur and Guwahati in the early hours of May 12,” the statement said.
“After intensive examination of the intercepted vehicles, 96 pieces of gold biscuits weighing 15.93 kg and carefully concealed in different parts of three vehicles were recovered,” it said.
Five persons of the syndicate have been arrested and all the three vehicles were seized. Further investigations are in progress.
Last Wednesday, DRI officers intercepted an air cargo consignment imported at the Delhi Air Cargo Complex and recovered 61.5 kg gold concealed in triangle valves. The market value of the seized gold is Rs 32.5 crore.
Sources said that DRI’s ability to effectively detect and make such seizures acts as a deterrent to smugglers attempting to compromise India’s economic frontiers.
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