The officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have arrested two persons, including an airport ground handling staff and a woman for allegedly smuggling gold valued at Rs 2.67 crore, agency sources said on Sunday. The ground handling staff member had retrieved the smuggled gold from the waste cart of a flight and had handed over it to the lady for smuggling it out of the airport using her Aerodrome Entry Permit (AEP).
According to the DRI sources, based on specific intelligence that a ground handling staff member of a company that provides ground handling services at the Mumbai airport and a customer service executive at the airport were involved in the smuggling of gold through Mumbai Airport, officers of DRI Mumbai intercepted the lady executive at one of the exit gates of the airport. Personal search of the lady resulted in recovery of two packets having 3350 grams of gold in paste form.
"Further, officers also apprehended the ground handling staff member who had retrieved the smuggled gold from the waste cart of a flight that had arrived from Abu Dhabi and handed over it to the lady for smuggling it out of the airport using her Aerodrome Entry Permit (AEP). Recovered 3350 grams of gold valued at Rs 2.67 crore has been seized and both persons have been arrested, under the provisions of Customs Act," said a DRI official.
Last months, DRI officials had arrested two passengers for allegedly smuggling gold valued at Rs 7.69 crores. The accused persons had told the agency officials that smuggled gold was concealed in the international route of a flight, which they had retrieved. It was also found that both the passengers were travelling with fake identities. The probe had revealed that the gold was smuggled from Kuwait.
