In a major breakthrough, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested a Chinese national which led to the bust of a major Chinese syndicate involved in smuggling gold from Hong Kong and Taiwan into India.
"In its continued crackdown on smuggling of gold into India from China and Taiwan, DRI has arrested a Chinese national believed to be one of the key masterminds of a notorious syndicate involved in smuggling of gold from Taiwan and Hong Kong into India from, Indira Gandhi International Terminal-3, New Delhi on November 4," a press release by the DRI read.
According to the release, "DRI had seized more than 21 kgs of smuggled gold valued at Rs 7.62 crore on October 10 from a flat in an upscale housing society in Delhi. Two individuals including a Taiwanese national and an Indian who had come to take the delivery of the smuggled gold were arrested in the operation."
As per DRI, the Chinese national arrested on November 4 is one of the key members of the racket which was involved in the supply of the smuggled gold which had been seized from the flat in Delhi.
Further investigation is underway.
Initial investigation suggested the involvement of two separate China and Taiwan based syndicates which was involved in smuggling gold into India.
The Taiwan based syndicate's modus operandi was to conceal the gold in the sediment filters of R.O water purifiers which were couriered from Taiwan to New Delhi and collected by members of the syndicate here. The gold was after extraction used to be sold to jewellers in exchange of cash.
According to the release, "In a similar modus operandi detected last year in November 2018 officers of DRI had detected a case of smuggling of gold into India from China by concealment in bag zippers and ash-trays. A total of 21 kgs of gold was seized and 7 persons including 4 Chinese nationals were arrested by DRI in that case."
The smuggling syndicates, as per the information available with DRI, have begun using various e-commerce platforms and couriers to smuggle gold into India by concealing them in household goods.
( With inputs from ANI )