Hyderabad: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad Zone Unit (HZU), successfully foiled two major gold smuggling attempts involving passengers who had travelled from Kuwait to Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Monday, September 16.
A total of 3379.600 grams of gold valued at Rs 3.36 crore were recovered and seized.
Both attempts were meticulously planned, with one involving the concealment of gold in an iron box.
Based on a tip-off, surveillance was increased at the airport on August 22. Two suspicious pieces of baggage, believed to contain concealed precious metal, were identified. Further, no passengers came forward to collect it.
On checking, CCTV footage confirmed that the baggage was deliberately abandoned by the passengers. Upon examination, officials found 1261.800 grams of smuggled gold (valued at Rs 1.25 crore).
Investigation traced the person who abandoned the baggage to the Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh.
On Monday, the man was arrested at the Hyderabad terminal while boarding a plane to Kuwait.
Upon interrogation, he said that the bag was handed to him by a handler in Kuwait who instructed him to leave it in the airport.
It was found out that the handler had returned to India and was in the Kadappa district of Andhra Pradesh. The person, who was travelling to Hyderabad, was arrested at the nearest toll plaza on Tuesday.
Both individuals admitted to their involvement in gold smuggling.
In the case of the second baggage, gold was found concealed in an iron box. Around 2117.800 grams of the metal, valued at Rs 2.11 crore, were recovered and seized.
Officials arrested the smuggler from the YSR Kadapa district on Tuesday.
All three accused have been booked under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and remanded to judicial custody.
Further investigations are ongoing to uncover potential links to larger smuggling networks, officials said.
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