New Delhi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a pan-India gold smuggling syndicate and seized 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold worth around Rs. 10.36 crore.
The agency arrested 11 people, including one of the alleged masterminds, during a coordinated operation across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Guwahati.
The DRI said the syndicate had moved 318 kg of smuggled gold worth around Rs. 475 crore through courier channels over the past nine months. Officials launched the operation on September 23 and 24, 2026, after receiving specific intelligence about the network.
The intelligence indicated regular movement of foreign-origin gold through the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal and Assam. The network then transported the gold through courier consignments to different parts of the country.
During the operation, DRI teams intercepted live courier consignments booked from Guwahati and Kolkata. The consignments were headed for recipients in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.
Officials apprehended seven recipients linked to the consignments. At the same time, teams searched consignors’ premises in Kolkata and arrested three more people.
A follow-up operation in Mumbai led to the arrest of another person who allegedly coordinated the dispatch and delivery of the smuggled gold. The arrests brought the total number of people detained in the operation to 11.
Gold smuggling network used multiple courier consignments
Investigators found that the syndicate divided the smuggled gold into several small courier consignments. The network sent these consignments from Guwahati and Kolkata to different recipients in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.
The recipients and consignors appeared to operate as paper entities or persons, according to the DRI. Investigators found no legitimate gold transactions involving them, indicating that the network used courier channels to conceal and distribute the smuggled metal.
Officials recovered 6.61 kg of foreign-origin gold in bar form from the intercepted consignments. The DRI valued the seized gold at approximately Rs. 10.36 crore and seized it under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
Preliminary scrutiny of documentary evidence has revealed the wider scale of the operation. In the first nine months of the current calendar year, the same courier-based network had already transported and delivered about 318 kg of smuggled gold.
The value of that gold stood at around Rs. 475 crore, based on the preliminary findings. The DRI said further investigation into the syndicate is underway.
The operation reflects the agency’s continued focus on organised gold smuggling at different stages of the supply chain. The DRI is also targeting the use of courier and other logistics channels to distribute smuggled gold across the country.
