Two arrested in New Delhi; Gang has already smuggled 7,000 kg of the precious metal worth over Rs 2,000 cr
When the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested two persons in New Delhi on Monday, little did they know that they have stumbled upon the single-biggest catch of smuggled gold in the country. And more surprise was in store. The two have been using Jet Airways for the illegal trade all the time – 617 in all. Every time, they used to declare smuggled gold as valuable cargo.
They have been at it for a long time and their 'overall business report' read 7,000 kg of smuggled gold, worth over Rs 2,000 crore.
They used to get gold from smugglers who would sneak into India from Myanmar and bring the booty to Guwahati for onward transmission to New Delhi. The two accused, Guwahati-based businessman Narendra Jain and his New Delhi-based aide Sartaaz, have been remanded in judicial custody.
Jain is no stranger to DRI. He has been involved in several instances of gold-smuggling and 37 kg of gold worth Rs 9 crore were seized from him in the past. In fact, he was even arrested by the Guwahati unit of the DRI in February 2015 for smuggling 12 kg of gold, but was released on bail later.
He fell into DRI net again on Monday when officers of the Delhi Zonal Unit (DZU) seized 10 kg of gold at the domestic cargo terminal of the IGI airport during the intervening night of September 1, 2016. The market value of the total seized goods is around Rs 3.1 crore.
Intelligence agencies said that Moreh in Manipur and Zokhawthar area in Mizoram along Myanmar are hotspots for gold-smuggling because of the topography and porosity of the land border.
The DRI has been busting big gold-smuggling rackets since 2015.
In March 2015, it seized 87 kg of gold at Siliguri and 58 kg in Kolkata in August 2016. Twelve persons were arrested. In another case, 12 kg of gold were seized in Mumbai on August 5, 2016. Investigations revealed that the same group had smuggled 700 kg gold, worth over Rs 200 crore, in 18 months.
On September 11, 2016, $750,000 (Rs 5 crore) were seized near Siliguri, meant to be smuggled into Myanmar for buying gold to be brought into the country, from a truck bound for Manipur.
In September, DRI Guwahati seized 27.5 kg of gold, worth Rs 8.56 crore, which was smuggled from Myanmar through the Moreh border, from a Bolero.
During April-July 2016, illicit gold import has drastically come down to about 107 metric tons, worth Rs 24,000 crore, as compared to 274 metric tons, worth Rs 60,700 crore, in the corresponding period of the last financial year. Total gold import in 2015-16 was about 855 metric tons, worth about Rs 1,79,172 crore.
Jet Airways reacts
"The said authorities had contacted Jet Airways to seek information on the carriage of cargo from Guwahati to Delhi from certain customers. The airline fully cooperated and provided all information. Jet Airways complies with rules, regulations and laws of the land they operate in, including matters relating to carriage of all types of shipments," the airline said in a statement.
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