Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted an international gold smuggling syndicate at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), seizing 2,317 grams of 24-karat gold valued at about ₹3.47 crore and arresting five people.
The DRI's Mumbai unit received specific intelligence on Monday that two passengers arriving from Dubai were carrying prohibited goods. Akil Akhtar Mir (35) and Shadab Salim Bagdadi (25), who landed at Terminal 2, were intercepted near the exit after crossing the Customs green channel without declaring anything. During questioning, they allegedly admitted to smuggling gold bars from Dubai and handing them to an airport staff member, Nilesh Naresh Haldankar (35), directly at the aerobridge to bypass internal security checks, the DRI said.
Acting on the information, a Customs team intercepted two waiting handlers, Shoaib Iqbal Shaikh (36) and Aamir Akbar Khan (31), at the P5 vehicle exit area of Terminal 2. A personal search in the presence of a gazetted officer led to the recovery of an unusually heavy black wallet from Shaikh's trouser pocket, containing 19 gold bars and four small cut pieces of gold.
In their voluntary statements, all five accused allegedly admitted to their roles as carriers, handlers and receivers in the network, the DRI said. A court remanded all five to judicial custody. The operation was carried out under the Customs Act, 1962, and the search for other members of the international network is on.
According to the DRI, the gold was to be delivered to receivers waiting outside the terminal. The agency said the accused were part of a well-coordinated operation spanning multiple countries, and it is looking for other members of the network.