MUMBAI: The air intelligence unit of
Customs
department busted a
gold smuggling
racket with the arrest of four men, including two
Singapore nationals
and a
jeweller
from
Zaveri Bazaar
, and recovered 2.4kg gold worth Rs 67 lakh.
In the past, the gang has smuggled gold worth over Rs 15 crore on three occasions, said officials.
Based on a tip-off, Customs officials kept a watch on two passengers Vickneswara Manimaran and Kelly Louis who arrived from Singapore at city
airport
on Thursday. “As they walked through the green channel, the metal detector sounded a beep. We searched their baggages and found 2.4kg gold worth Rs 67 lakh,” said an official.
During interrogations, they revealed that they were just carriers; the gold had been given to them by a man identified only as Prakash in Singapore. Prakash was to meet them at Mumbai airport to collect the gold and hand it over to Rahul Gaikwad and jeweller Mayur Mehta.
Gaikwad and Mehta were later arrested from a hotel in Zaveri Bazaar. Customs officials are looking for Prakash.
“The gang would smuggle gold through foreigners and sell it to jewellers in Zaveri Bazaar. We are probing if there are more people involved in the racket,” said an official.
S Ahmed Ali, Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Mumba...
Read MoreS Ahmed Ali, Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Mumbai, covers crime and related isues but sometimes he also takes up offbeat subjects. His interests: automobiles particularly bikes, and gymming.
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