Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) In a significant breakthrough in a transnational smuggling racket, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted an international gold smuggling syndicate and arrested six people, including three Filipinos, officials said on Friday.
The syndicate was allegedly being run with the connivance of private persons working at the airport premises, officials said.
The six arrested accused have been identified as Mumbai residents Himanshu Upadhyay, Mohid Hasan Siddiqui and Feroz Sayyed; and three nationals of the Philippines, Lakim Alimudin Nasser, Benny Lloyd Olivo and Christine Joy Andaya Pornasdoro.
According to DRI, the accused have revealed during interrogation that they were working for a smuggling syndicate that smuggled gold through transit passengers from Dubai and Bangkok to Mumbai, with the help of some people working at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in the city.
Earlier this month, the DRI, in coordination with other agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), had busted an interstate wildlife trafficking syndicate across West Bengal and Maharashtra.
Several wildlife species, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, including 15 Slow Lorises, two Binturongs, 28 Star Tortoises, six Egyptian Vultures and two Shikra birds were recovered and rescued.
The Intelligence in the case was developed by DRI, and the matter is now being investigated by the CBI. The six people were subsequently arrested by the CBI.
The DRI has also foiled multiple attempts by passengers arriving from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Colombo to smuggle protected wildlife into India through international airports.
In these operations, species like Albino Red-eared Turtles, Hypo Zero Bearded Dragons, African Spurred Tortoises, Borneo Pythons, Green Iguanas, Mangrove Monitor Lizards, Argentine Black and White Tegus, Goeldi’s Marmosets, Yellow Cheeked Gibbons, Indonesian Blue Tongued Skinks, Siamang Gibbons, Woolley Monkeys, Silvery Lutungs, Yellow Belly Ball Pythons, Pastel Ball Pythons and other species were seized and rescued.
The total number of seizures in these operations has reached 440.
–IANS
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