The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 29.37 kg of gold worth Rs 37.74 crore and arrested 24 carriers at Mumbai Airport. This major bust, ‘Operation Dhahabu Blitz’, targeted a syndicate of female carriers arriving from Nairobi. Separately, DRI also uncovered a sophisticated gold smuggling network at Bengaluru Airport, seizing Rs 5 crore worth of gold.

“DRI received a tip-off about women coming from Nairobi in Kenya with hidden gold. Following this, 24 foreign nationals, who had landed at Mumbai Airport from Nairobi, were stopped. From their bags and clothes, 25.1 kg of gold bars and 4.27 kg of gold jewellery were recovered,” officials told PTI on Thursday.

Acting on specific intelligence and digital profiling, DRI officials tracked the group at Terminal 2 and maintained surveillance near the arrival area of flight KQ 202, choosing to intercept them after they crossed the green channel due to heavy passenger traffic.