DRI Seized Smuggled Gold Worth INR 5.44 Crore

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials seized nearly 13 kilograms of gold worth approximately INR 5.44 crore from 18 different passengers who arrived at the Chennai International Airport Thursday. The passengers had arrived from Malaysia, Colombo and Dubai.

The incident led to contention between DRI officials and Customs department officers, as the DRI declared involvement of two customs officials in the smuggling act. As the DRI officials took the 18 people to a vehicle in the Arrival hall, a mob of around 50 people gathered and threw abusing words on them. Two of the DRI officials were manhandled by the mob. During these incidents some of the passengers escaped from DRI custody. Following this, DRI lodged a complaint with the airport police.

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A search was carried out at the residential premises of a former Customs department tax assistant who was allegedly involved in coordinating the gold smuggling activities at the airport.

As per estimates, the airport has recorded 67% surge in the number of gold smuggling cases booked over the past one year. A total of INR 123 crore worth smuggled gold has been seized from passengers in the previous year.