The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a gold smuggling racket and arrested 18 Sudanese women as well as an Indian woman with 16.36 kg of the yellow metal in paste form valued at Rs 10.16 crore at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here, an official said on Tuesday.
In a follow up search at related premises 1.42 kg of gold valued approximately at Rs 85 lakh along with foreign currency worth Rs 16 lakh and Indian notes of Rs 88 lakh were also recovered, he said.
Based on specific intelligence that gold in paste form is going to be smuggled into India by a syndicate of passengers travelling from the UAE to Mumbai on Monday, DRI officials mounted a surveillance at the city airport, the official said.
Passengers suspected to be part of the syndicate travelling in three flights were identified and intercepted by a team of the DRI at the airport, he said.
During their search, the DRI recovered 16.36 kg of gold in paste form, gold cut pieces and jewellery, collectively valued at Rs 10.16 crore, said the official.
Eighteen women from Sudan carrying the smuggled gold and an Indian woman who was coordinating the movement of the passengers were arrested, he said.
Most of the recovered gold was found concealed on the body of the suspect passengers, making it extremely difficult to detect the precious metal, said the official, adding further probe was underway.
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