Tamil Nadu: 149 held on board Chennai-bound flight from Oman held by DRI for smuggling worth Rs 14 crore

A record 149 flyers out of 156 passengers on board Chennai-bound flight from Oman were held on September 14 by sleuths of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for mass smuggling of contraband in Tamil Nadu.

A total pf 13kgs of gold, over 2500 smartphones and saffron with a total value of Rs 14 crore was seized from the 149 passengers attempting to smuggle the items evading high custom duties. 

The criminal syndicate tried to change routes from Middle East to south Indian airports of Chennai, Cochin and Hyderabad while trying to evade the strict vigil at Mumbai and Delhi airports.

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In its sustained effort to combat gold smuggling, DRI Chennai has so far seized around 163 kg of gold worth Rs 97 crore in 29 cases, and 43 persons have been arrested since January 2023 onwards in different parts of Tamil Nadu.

Earlier, DRI had arrested two persons and seized 23.34 kgs of gold worth Rs14.43 crore at Chennai international airport in the month of May.