DRI seizes 23.23 kg gold smuggled through NE borders, 4 held

The recent gold seizures in the North East by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence or the DRI indicate a spurt in the smuggling of gold through the NE borders of Bangladesh and Myanmar, said the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

While the porous borders have been used for smuggling in the past, 11 cases of gold seizures of 121 kg in September 2022 alone show that the NE corridor is still extensively being used by smugglers deploying ingenious ways of concealment, read the press statement by the Ministry of Finance.

Acting on specific intelligence and in three coordinated interceptions at Patna, Delhi and Mumbai, the DRI seized 65.46 kg of foreign-origin gold worth Rs 33.40 crore.

The gold was consigned from Aizwal to Mumbai in domestic courier consignment. The gold was concealed in gunny bags declared as clothes, as per the statement.

In yet another case of smuggling through the same route, the DRI seized another big haul of smuggled foreign origin gold weighing approximately 23.23 kg and valued at Rs.11.65 crore which was being smuggled from Myanmar.

The recovered gold had been smuggled into India from Myanmar through the Zokhawthar border in Mizoram. Four persons have been arrested in the case so far.

In another 9 cases in the month, DRI recovered and seized 27 kg of smuggled gold from various carriers coming from the Northeast to the rest of the country.

These series of detections have helped unearth a novel modus operandi of smuggling foreign-origin gold into India from the North-Eastern part of the country.