PANAJI: The directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI), Goa, late on Saturday busted a gold smuggling syndicate and arrested three persons for alleged illegal possession of 5.7kg gold and 28 units of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, all worth around Rs 4 crore.
The DRI said that the accused, who had travelled from Abu Dhabi with gold paste, are part of a gold smuggling syndicate operating between Mumbai and Dubai. They travelled from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi on October 12.
DRI sources said that based on specific intelligence, DRI Goa officials intercepted three passengers who arrived from Indigo flight 6E-1506 from Abu Dhabi to Manohar International airport, Mopa, on Saturday.
During the search, the DRI officials found 7kg of gold paste (estimated quantity post retrieval of 5.7kg) and the 15 iPhones from three male passengers.
"The iPhones were wrapped in packets placed in the checked-in baggage. The gold paste was concealed in the waistband of a passenger and stitched to the inner layers of two passengers’ clothes," a DRI source said.
All three — Irfan, resident of Uttar Pradesh, Kamran Ahmed Gayasuddin Khan, resident of Mumbai, and Mohammed Irfan Ghulam Nabi Bala Patel, resident of Gujarat — were arrested under relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and further investigation is in progress.