VIJAYAWADA: Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 3.147 kg of smuggled foreign-origin gold and foreign currency worth `5.84 crore in coordinated operations on October 18. Five persons allegedly involved in procuring and transporting the contraband were arrested.
According to DRI officials, specific intelligence was received about a gang smuggling foreign-origin gold from Bangladesh, and transporting it to Hyderabad through Kolkata.
Acting on the information, officials of the Hyderabad Zonal Unit and Vijayawada Regional Unit intercepted a Scorpio on the outskirts of Vijayawada. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of foreign currency concealed in a specially designed cavity.
The two occupants of the vehicle reportedly confessed that they were involved in delivering the smuggled gold on the outskirts of Vijayawada.
Later, the DRI identified three other carriers travelling toward Hyderabad in a bus. It intercepted the trio at a toll plaza, and recovered three foreign-origin gold bars weighing 3.1 kg. The gold bars were concealed in a pouch tied around the carriers’ waists in an attempt to evade detection.
All the five persons were arrested, and produced before the magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody. Further probe is underway to establish the network involved in the smuggling operation.
