Goa Airports are Pak Terrorists’ Conduits to Smuggle Gold: DRI

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Pakistan-based terrorists are involved in smuggling gold, investigations focused on cases at Goa airports have revealed, said the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI), Goa. “We have learnt that Pakistani terrorists based in the Middle East are behind the gold-smuggling operations,” the DRI said. “The money yielded by gold is used to plot anti-national activities in the country.”
The DRI suspects that gold is being smuggled into Goa through the Mopa airport daily.

It has enhanced its vigil and activated its sources to nab the smugglers.
The DRI said the people who are caught are not aware that they are carrying contraband. It added that gold is easy to carry and then trade for hard cash in India.
The DRI said the smugglers home in on people keen to take vacations in the Middle East. “The smugglers tell their targets that return air tickets will be arranged free and other expenses will be paid as well,” the DRI said. “The targets are told that all they have to do is to bring back a package containing gold for their benefactors’ relatives.”

Over the past three months, the DRI confiscated 3kg of gold worth Rs 10 crore. The DRI said that smugglers are using both Manohar International Airport at Mopa and the older airport at Dabolim in Goa to sneak gold into India.
“When international flights began operations from the Mopa airport, smugglers assessed its vulnerabilities,” the DRI said. “They were able to dodge the checks and started using the airport to smuggle gold.”

The DRI said that the carrier’s job is to hand over the consignment to a designated person, a stranger. The consignment is then shipped out of Goa.
In December, the DRI arrested two persons for allegedly smuggling 3.5kg of gold from Abu Dhabi worth Rs 2.2 crore. In that case, the officers of the DRI had intercepted Nitesh Saini at the Mopa airport. The DRI said his checked-in bag was heavier than usual. It contained a floor-spring machine (a mechanical door-closing device). An x-ray examination of the machine revealed the concealed material.
“The machine was sealed from all sides, so it was cut open,” the DRI said. “We found a disk and rods of solid gold weighing 3.5kg ingeniously hidden inside the machine.”

Courtesy: www.indiatimes.com