Changing destination doesn’t help, Chennai gold smugglers nabbed in Bengaluru

CHENNAI: Two gold smugglers from Chennai, who tried to evade officials by changing their destination to Bengaluru from Chennai, were nabbed by officials from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

After seizing 7.5 kg of gold worth Rs 5.2 crore, the officials also nabbed four people from Chennai who were waiting in a star hotel to collect the gold from the smugglers.

According to sources, the DRI officials received a tip-off that large quantities of gold were being smuggled to Chennai by air from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Following this, officials stepped up surveillance at the Chennai airport.

Officials came to know that one passenger who had originally booked a ticket to Chennai from Dubai and another who was to land here from Abu Dhabi cancelled their bookings and changed their destination to Bengaluru international airport.

The officials secretly inquired why these two passengers from Chennai changed their destinations in the last minute. During their inquiry, officials found that they were smuggling gold. When they learnt that the DRI got a sniff of their plan and tightened the net in Chennai, these smugglers decided to land in Bengaluru.

The officials then rushed to Bengaluru by flight to nab the two smugglers before they managed to come out of the airport there.

In the early hours of Friday, two flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi landed at Bengaluru airport. By then, DRI officials from Chennai were already in place to secretly monitor passengers. That is when the two passengers they were waiting for came out of their flights.

The officials immediately nabbed them both and took them to separate rooms where they were grilled. The officials also conducted a thorough body check and found gold concealed in their undergarments and also in a special bandage wrapped around the knees.

Officials seized 7.5 kg of gold from the duo, estimated to be worth Rs 5.2 crore, and arrested both of them.

During interrogation, the duo told the officials that they were private company staff in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, who were coming to Chennai on vacation. Before they left, a gang of gold smugglers met them offering business class flight tickets and money if they agreed to carry gold.

As per the plan, they were to land in Bengaluru and head to a star hotel near the airport where rooms have been booked for them. There, the members of the international smuggling gang would meet them and collect the gold.

Based on this information, the DRI officials went to the star hotel and arrested four people from Chennai who were staying in a room waiting for the smugglers to reach. Knowing that it was risky to take the gold by flight, they were planning to travel from Bengaluru to Chennai by road.

After arresting the two smugglers and the four-member gang, all from Chennai, officials are now investigating further to know more about the smuggling ring. Meanwhile, the arrested people would be presented before a court in Bengaluru to obtain a transit warrant to bring them to Chennai, sources said.