DRI seizes gold price 12.58 crore at Mumbai airport; 13 arrested

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized gold price ₹12.58 crore, introduced in by carriers who had hid it inside their our bodies, at Mumbai airport, and arrested 13 individuals, together with airport staffers, officers mentioned on Saturday (October 11, 2025).

Under ‘Operation Golden Sweep’, DRI’s Mumbai zonal unit uncovered the gold smuggling syndicate, an official mentioned.

During the operation, DRI arrested two Bangladeshi nationals, six Sri Lankan residents, two staffers of a meet-and-greet service, two handlers and the mastermind, he mentioned.

A complete of 10.5 kg of gold, price about ₹12.58 crore, was seized from them.

The gold syndicate used transit passengers from Dubai to Singapore, Bangkok, and Dhaka by way of Mumbai to behave as carriers, who hid the yellow steel in egg-shaped wax capsules inside their our bodies, he mentioned.

Upon arrival in Mumbai, these transit passengers handed over the smuggled gold to complicit airport staff throughout the worldwide departure space, he mentioned. The staffers would then take the gold out of the airport premises and ship it to outsiders, the official mentioned.

The syndicate, operated by masterminds based mostly in Mumbai and Dubai, employed transit passengers, airport workers, handlers and a number of other layers of receivers, the official added.