BENGALURU: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Bengaluru zone, recently intercepted two men at the Kempegowda International Airport and seized 8,053 carats of natural and lab-grown diamonds worth Rs 7.77 crore, which were concealed in chocolate boxes.
The two men from Chikkaballapur in their mid-30s deal with petty gemstones. They were handed over the diamonds at Mumbai airport to be taken to Dubai. The DRI, on credible information, intercepted them at KIA on January 10 when they were about to board the Indigo flight to Dubai. “Search of their check-in baggage resulted in the recovery of natural and lab-grown diamonds weighing 8,053 carats valued at Rs 7.77 crore and assorted foreign currency worth Rs 4.62 lakh,” sources said.
Further, based on their interrogation, information was shared with DRI, Hyderabad. They intercepted two other passengers and seized diamonds weighing 5,569 carats worth around Rs 6.03 crore and assorted foreign currency worth Rs 9.83 lakh from them. The four have been arrested under the Customs Act.