DRI busts major gold smuggling syndicate; 5.9 kg seized

The special teams from DRI conducted simultaneous raids and search operations at four different places in the state and seized the gold smuggled from Singapore and Dubai. Based on a special intelligence input, DRI officials who were deployed on National Highway 32 at Chengalpattu. They were also deployed at the airports in Tiruchy, Chennai and Madurai and managed to gather information regarding the transport of smuggled gold from Tiruchy. The team waiting at Chengalpattu intercepted a Swift Dzire car with the registration ‘TN 01 5104’. 

When the occupants of the car, Sabeer Ahamed (29) and Ubayathullah (33) were interrogated, they admitted to smuggling gold and the DRI team found the gold concealed under the front seat. The DRI team took them to Chennai and the vehicle was subjected to a detailed search. The officers found some brand new cutting pliers and when the outer plastic of the handles were removed, eight specifically moulded rods of gold was found. They also found some gold jewellery packed in zip lock bags. Both the accused were arrested. The DRI team later raided a house at Choolaimedu, where they seized gold bars and jewellery. 

DRI also arrested two more persons -- Mansoor (28) and Raja Mohammed (32). At Madurai airport, the DRI seized a cutting-plier with gold handles, which was smuggled in from Dubai. Four more persons have been arrested by the DRI in Tiruchy and Madurai airports.

According to DRI sources, the house at Choolaimedu was used by the smuggling syndicate to house the agents who collected the gold from passengers outside the Chennai airport. Similar facilities were discovered in Tiruchy and Madurai. The DRI source said, the syndicate manipulated genuine passengers to carry the contraband and the passengers photo would be sent through WhatsApp to the agents waiting to recover the gold at the airport. “If the gold is being brought to Tiruchy or Madurai, the agents collect the smuggled  gold and keep it there for two or three days and then transport it via road to Chennai,” a DRI official told DTNext.