Ahmedabad, October 19, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested three accused and seized 13.017 kg of foreign-origin gold valued at approximately ₹19.41 crore in an operation that uncovered a smuggling syndicate operating through Ahmedabad and Surat airports, an official said on Monday.
According to an official statement, the three accused were arrested under the Customs Act, 1962, for their alleged involvement in organised gold smuggling into India through Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad and Surat International Airport.
Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers placed the suspects under surveillance and conducted coordinated searches over 42 hours beginning October 16, the statement said.
The operation uncovered the alleged smuggling network, which involved air passengers bringing gold into the country, handlers receiving the contraband, intermediaries transporting it for illegal melting, and a jewellery outlet facilitating its sale.
The DRI said preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate used several concealment methods to smuggle gold, including thin gold wires coated with rhodium, gold embedded in the inner linings of trolley bags, and gold paste concealed within the bags’ inner shells.
After arriving in India, the gold was allegedly handed over to handlers outside the airports and routed through intermediaries to an illegal gold-melting facility in Vadodara. The melted gold was then supplied to a jewellery shop in Ahmedabad for sale in exchange for cash, the agency said.
During the coordinated operation, officers seized around 890 grams of gold and recovered incriminating evidence relating to 6.41 kg of illegally melted gold, according to the statement.
Further searches at the jewellery shop led to the recovery of undocumented foreign-origin gold bars and records of transactions involving approximately 5.8 kg of smuggled gold. The gold was allegedly routed through a separate handler linked to the syndicate’s main financier based in Dubai, the DRI said.
The investigation revealed the interconnected roles of passengers, handlers, intermediaries, the gold-melting facility operator and the jewellery trade channel in the alleged smuggling and disposal network.
The DRI said the handler-financier, the operator of the melting facility and other key individuals had been identified during the investigation.
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