Key member of gold smuggling group held

MUMBAI : The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai officials on Friday arrested a Gurgaon resident for allegedly providing key logistical support to an international gold smuggling syndicate that has purportedly brought illegally into India gold worth ₹150 crore. The syndicate involves some Chinese nationals and Dubai residents.

The accused, Navneet Singh, is said to be a part of the gold smuggling syndicate, whose two members were arrested in May last year along with 16 kg gold worth around ₹7 crore. The gold was smuggled from Hong Kong cleverly concealed inside the electric breaker machine, which was then shipped through air cargo.

The DRI probe revealed that Singh is a key member of the syndicate, as he provided logistical support for transportation, storage, and processing of the smuggled gold and arranged accommodation for other members of the racket.

DRI sources said in December 2021, Singh had come to Mumbai and arranged a flat in Kandivali and a commercial space in Goregaon for an accused. He had also purchased an SUV in another accused’s name. It was in this vehicle that the smuggled gold would be transported from the Mumbai air cargo complex to the Kandivali flat. Other accused would process the smuggled gold at the flat, sources added.

He had similarly arranged flats, warehouses, and vehicles in Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana for the processing of the smuggled gold, sources said, adding that they believe that Singh has provided this type of logistical support to the syndicate at least 20 times.

The agency’s investigations also revealed that his handler was operating from Dubai, and the person has been paying him well. The probe has shown that besides the Dubai man, Singh has been in touch with some Chinese nationals, who are involved in the smuggling of the gold. He has also provided logistical support to the Chinese nationals.