The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has dismantled a Gujarat gold smuggling network that allegedly used Ahmedabad and Surat international airports, a Vadodara melting unit and a jewellery outlet in Ahmedabad to move foreign-origin gold into the market. Three people have been arrested under the Customs Act, 1962, the agency said.
The operation involved around 13 kg of foreign-origin gold valued at Rs 19.41 crore, according to the DRI. Investigators said the network was linked to a Dubai-based supplier and involved passengers, airport handlers, intermediaries, a gold-melting facility operator and a jewellery trade channel.
The agency said its officers acted on specific intelligence and conducted coordinated searches over 42 hours beginning October 16. The investigation uncovered an alleged chain in which passengers brought gold into India through Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad and Surat International Airport. The gold was then handed to handlers outside the airports and moved through intermediaries to Vadodara.
According to the DRI, the gold was concealed in several ways, including wires coated with rhodium, material embedded in the inner linings of trolley bags and gold paste hidden inside trolley-bag shells. After being transferred to the Vadodara facility, the gold was allegedly melted and supplied to a jewellery shop in Ahmedabad for cash sales.
The searches resulted in the seizure of about 890 grams of gold and the recovery of evidence relating to 6.41 kg of illegally melted gold, the agency said. Further searches at the jewellery shop led to the recovery of undocumented foreign-origin gold bars and records concerning approximately 5.8 kg of smuggled gold allegedly routed through another handler connected to the syndicate’s main Dubai-based financier.
A senior DRI official said the operation had exposed the interconnected roles of the people involved in bringing in, transferring, processing and disposing of the smuggled gold. The agency said the handler or financier, the operator of the melting unit and other key individuals had been identified during the investigation.
The case highlights how an airport-based smuggling operation can extend into multiple cities and commercial channels before the material reaches the jewellery market. Ahmedabad and Surat served as entry points, while Vadodara was allegedly used for processing and Ahmedabad for sale. The DRI has not disclosed the identities of the arrested persons in the material supplied for this report.
Customs officials said gold becomes illegal when it is not declared at the Red Channel, when a passenger carries more than the permissible quantity or when proper documentation covering its purchase and source is absent. Officials said the evasion of customs duty creates margins running into lakhs and that passengers may be recruited through offers of a share in the proceeds or free foreign travel.
The DRI said its investigation would continue to identify and disrupt the wider network, including the financier, handlers, intermediaries and other persons connected to the alleged smuggling chain.
