WhatsApp helps DRI seize Rs 3.9 crore smuggled gold

Chennai: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday busted two gangs smuggling  around 13.2 kg gold valued at Rs 3.86 crore through Chennai and Tiruchy airports. The officials also seized Indian and foreign currency worth Rs 7 lakh.

Officials were on a sound vigil at these airports based on intelligence that smugglers were using passengers to carry gold concealed in household appliances such as coffee makers, floor polishing machines, cutting pliers. “The smuggler who operates from abroad sends a picture of the passenger carrying the gold through WhatsApp to a receiver who collects the appliance from the passenger outside the airport,” said officials.

On Monday night, DRI sleuths intercepted a few people operating suspiciously outside the airport. “We observed some international passengers approaching the suspects to hand over packages or household items,” an official release read.
DRI personnel rounded up those receiving the packages and seized their phones.Passengers who arrived at Chennai airport on flights from Singapore, Delhi and Mumbai were intercepted based on the WhatsApp images and the contraband gold  was recovered from them. "We also recovered gold from residences of passengers who had come in earlier flights using the information available with us," an official said. A total of six persons have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.