In 2025, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has seized 321 kg of gold worth Rs 406 crore, 65 cases registered

NEW DELHI: Exposing increasingly sophisticated smuggling operations that span continents, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has intercepted and seized around 321 kilograms of smuggled gold worth Rs 406.35 crore between January and October this year. The seizures and interception data -- 65 cases -- show a disturbing picture of an organised syndicate gang that operates with military precision. The wellfunded internationally coordinated syndicates have adapted rapidly to the countrys enforcement agencies' measures. In fact, the Director General of DRI, Abhai Kumar Srivastav, has written to the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Praveen Sood in April this year to unravel the entire gold smuggling nexus as it involves a coordinated international crime syndicate and a few government officials. Intelligence agencies have stated that for every kilogramme intercepted, three to five kilogrammes successfully enter India. On analysis of seizure and interception data of DRI done by TNIE, there were distinct patterns in both air and land-based smuggling operations this year. It has been found that there are four major air routes and three major land routes. The air smuggling network operates primarily through four major routes: the Dubai-Mumbai corridor; the Bangkok-Ahmedabad route; the Bangkok-Kolkata channel; and the broader Middle East triangle that encompasses Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Riyadh, with gold entering through multiple airports, including Ahmedabad, Calicut, and Jaipur. There are three major land-based smuggling routes: the Myanmar-northeast corridor, the Nepal-Bihar corridor, and the Bangladesh and the five bordering Indian states corridor. The highest volume of seizures, with over 18 incidents, makes the Dubai-Mumbai corridor the single largest channel used by the organised crime syndicate. This route has seen 40 percent of seizures. The second critical route for smuggling is from Bangkok. The two major feeding corridors are the Bangkok-Kolkata and Bangkok-Ahmedabad routes. The crime syndicate using the Middle East triangle uses a diversified entry point into Indian, and it is designed to avoid scrutiny at any single point and to get away from law enforcement agencies. The land route represents a complex web spread by crime syndicate. Once the gold enters from Myanmar through the porous borders of Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura, it is smuggled through railway stations. Sealdah and Dum Dum in Kolkata serve as primary hubs. In addition to West Bengal, the smuggled gold is distributed through trains to Chhapra, Patna, Banaras and Delhi. The Nepal border corridor shows a similar pattern. Once the gold enters India, smugglers use express trains to reach Delhi, and in this case, the New Delhi Railway Station becomes the primary hub. From there, it is distributed to northern India. Through the Bangladesh border corridor, gold reached West Bengal through road transport and was then distributed through train. The crime syndicate exploits both aviation networks and ground transportation infrastructure with military precision to avoid law enforcement agencies in India. The data also reveals two disturbing trends: one, smuggling through rectal and internal body concealment, and second, people in financial distress from across the globe are used as couriers. The data reveals that 25 percent of passenger-based smuggling attempts were made through rectal and internal body concealment. In these cases, capsules containing gold paste or dust or even small bars are being ingested or inserted. Further, arrest data shows that people financially distressed from Thailand, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, Chad, and even US nationals were used. Language becomes a major crisis for them, and they get caught. These trends reveal that the smuggling of gold is rampant in India, and there is a need for enhancing law enforcement agencies with the latest technologies and international cooperation to deal with this organized crime syndicate.