‘Operation Golden Sweep’: DRI seizes 10.5 kg gold worth ₹12.58 crore, 13 arrested at Mumbai airport

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 10.5 kg of gold worth ₹12.58 crore. As part of an operation called Operation Golden Sweep, authorities have nabbed foreign nationals, Mumbai airport staff and other members of an international gold smuggling syndicate.

DRI carried out this work at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International (CSMI) Airport in Mumbai. The value of 10.488 kg gold of 24 carat foreign origin seized is approximately ₹12.58 crore.

This comes at a time when the price of the yellow metal has reached a record high of $ 4,000 an ounce in the international market.

Those arrested include 13 people, including two Bangladeshis, six Sri Lankan nationals, two airport employees, two operators and the mastermind of the entire operation.

According to the Press Information Bureau, the investigation revealed that an international syndicate employed a sophisticated modus operandi.

The smugglers acted as carriers in the guise of passengers from Dubai to Mumbai via Mumbai to Singapore, Bangkok and Dhaka.

The syndicate carried out these operations by hiding the gold in egg-shaped wax capsules inside their bodies.

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