DRI arrests 2 airport staff, seizes smuggled gold worth ₹1.60 crore
DRI officials said that the case highlights the increasing misuse of the access airport staff have within the airport premises. Officials also pointed out the coordinated involvement of multiple personnel in gold smuggling, including retrieving the goods from the aircraft, carrying it through restricted zones, and eventually handing it over to syndicate members outside the airport
MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested two contractual staff members at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and recovered 1.20 kg of smuggled gold worth around ₹1.60 crore on Saturday.

Officers of the Mumbai zonal unit of the DRI, said they had received a tip off that foreign-origin gold was being smuggled within aircrafts and retrieved at CSMIA by the airport staff. In a discreet operation set up to monitor the smuggling, the DRI officials searched the cleaning staff of an airport services company after the passengers had deboarded and they had finished cleaning the aircraft.
DRI officials said that one of the staff members, seeing them and anticipating a search, rushed up to the aerobridge staircase and left a package in a corner before joining the rest. When officials recovered the packet they found 1.2 kg of packets of gold dust dissolved into wax. The DRI later found that the gold had a 24-karat purity and was valued at approximately ₹1.60 crore.
The DRI immediately identified, isolated, and interrogated the staff member, a team leader of the cleaning staff. He admitted that had left the gold at the top of the staircase to avoid getting caught, and added that it was his supervisor who had retrieved the gold from the aircraft and handed it to him. The DRI officials then also arrested the supervisor of the cleaning staff.
Investigations revealed that the smuggling syndicate involved international passengers who left the foreign origin gold in the aircrafts when they arrived in Mumbai. The gang’s modus operandi was to have airport services staff with authorized access retrieve the gold and safely take it out of the airport through a chain of people in on the smuggling.
DRI officials seized the gold under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and the airport services team leader and his supervisor were arrested on Saturday.
DRI officials said that the case highlights the increasing misuse of the access airport staff have within the airport premises. Officials also pointed out the coordinated involvement of multiple personnel in gold smuggling, including retrieving the goods from the aircraft, carrying it through restricted zones, and eventually handing it over to syndicate members outside the airport. “Such activities pose a serious threat to the integrity and security of airport operations,” said DRI officials.
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