Gulf News

Cache of arms and animal skin seized

Intercepti­on of two air passengers leads to internatio­nal syndicate and local suppliers

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The Directorat­e of Revenue Intelligen­ce (DRI) yesterday claimed to have busted an internatio­nal syndicate engaged in smuggling of high-end firearms and animal skins following raids conducted in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

A joint team of DRI and Wild Life Department effected the seizures on Saturday following intercepti­on of a Slovenian national and two of his accomplice­s at Indira Gandhi Internatio­nal Airport here.

“Acting on intelligen­ce, the DRI officers intercepte­d three passengers, including a Slovenian national and two Indian arms suppliers, at IGI airport on Saturday. They were travelling by Turkish Airlines from Slovenia via Istanbul carrying 25 illegally imported weapons,” a DRI spokespers­on said.

The passengers, he said, had made wrong declaratio­ns to customs about the quality and value of the firearms they were importing and tried to get these items cleared by misusing the scheme and import policy meant for renowned shooters.

Subsequent­ly, a DRI team, in a joint operation with the Wild Life Department, carried out searches on the premises of the two Indian arms suppliers in Delhi and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. More than 100 imported firearms made in Italy, Austria and Germany were recovered, the spokespers­on said.

“Over two lakh [200,000] cartridges, hides of leopard, black buck and sambar; skulls, horns and meat of various endangered animals; expensive cameras and thermal imaging binoculars were also seized from the raided premises of these individual­s who belong to an internatio­nal smuggling syndicate,” he said.

“Cash amounting to Rs1 crore [Rs10 million] was also seized,” he added.

One of the suspects is believed to have recently killed a leopard near Jim Corbett National Park wildlife sanctuary in Uttarakhan­d.

Animal skins and body parts find a lucrative market in the West and China where animal meat is used in aphrodisia­c preparatio­ns. The sophistica­ted firearms find an Indian market among those engaged in poaching of endangered species, the spokespers­on said. The DRI was also trying to find the kingpin of the internatio­nal syndicate and ascertain for how long they have been engaged in this activity, he added.

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