The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has dismantled a pan-India gold smuggling syndicate that allegedly exploited courier networks to move contraband gold across the country, seizing 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold valued at approximately ₹10.36 crore and arresting 11 persons, including one of the alleged masterminds. The operation, confirmed through an official Finance Ministry statement on Monday, 28 September, was triggered by specific intelligence inputs.

How the Network Operated

According to the Finance Ministry, the syndicate smuggled gold across the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Assam, then funnelled it into major urban markets through courier consignments. To evade detection, the group reportedly split shipments into multiple small parcels dispatched from Guwahati and Kolkata to recipients in Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.

Investigators found that both shippers and recipients were either shell entities or private individuals with no verifiable legal gold-trading activity — suggesting, according to the ministry, a deliberate effort to obscure the origin and movement of the smuggled metal.

Coordinated Raids Across Five Cities

DRI officers conducted simultaneous searches and interceptions in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Guwahati. Live courier consignments containing smuggled gold were intercepted mid-transit. Seven recipients were apprehended at delivery points, while searches at consignor premises in Kolkata led to the arrest of three additional persons. A follow-up operation in Mumbai netted one of the network's key coordinators, according to the ministry statement.

All seizures were made under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

Scale of the Alleged Operation

The immediate seizure of 6.61 kg worth ₹10.36 crore represents only a fraction of the syndicate's alleged activity. Preliminary examination of documentary evidence, according to the Finance Ministry, suggests the network transported and delivered nearly 318 kg of smuggled gold — worth approximately ₹475 crore — through the same courier-based channels during the first nine months of the current calendar year. That figure, if verified, would make this one of the larger courier-route gold smuggling operations uncovered in recent years.

Investigation Ongoing

DRI has stated that further investigation is underway to identify additional network members and trace the proceeds and distribution channels linked to the smuggled gold. Authorities are also examining the full extent of the courier companies' involvement, though no courier firm has been named in the official statement.

This operation comes amid a broader push by Indian customs and intelligence agencies to crack down on gold smuggling through non-traditional routes, particularly land borders in the northeast, which have seen a rise in such activity in recent years.