Mumbai: A Dubai based Chinese mafia appears to be playing a key role in gold smuggling incidents, especially in South India, customs officials in India say.
Over the last few months, customs officials at the Rajiv Gandhi international Airport in Hyderabad, have detained more than 50 passengers and recovered approximately 80 kilograms of gold. On April 1, about 7.70 kilogram of gold was seized from two passengers by the Directorate of revenue intelliegence sleuths, which was the first instance to alert the investigating team about the role of the neighbouring nation.
"Though it sounds incredulous, investigators have come across enough evidence to indicate that Chinese gangs are hiring operators in other countries and smuggling gold into Hyderabad, Kerala and other Indian cities," said Kalyan Revella, Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, at Hyderabad.
Revella said that his investigators had found passengers from Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia carrying illegal gold into Hyderabad. "During the course of the investigation, most of them disclosed that they had been handed the gold to smuggle into the city. They were to get a commission of $8,254 (Rs 500,000) per 1 kilogram," he said.
"Based on the confessions of detained passengers, we have investigated the cases and got some leads that some middlemen were hired by gangs based in China, who were targetting other gangs in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. The motive of the gangs is to smuggle gold to India, and the middlemen lure passengers by offering attractive commissions," Revella added.
22/04/14 Mineweb
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Over the last few months, customs officials at the Rajiv Gandhi international Airport in Hyderabad, have detained more than 50 passengers and recovered approximately 80 kilograms of gold. On April 1, about 7.70 kilogram of gold was seized from two passengers by the Directorate of revenue intelliegence sleuths, which was the first instance to alert the investigating team about the role of the neighbouring nation.
"Though it sounds incredulous, investigators have come across enough evidence to indicate that Chinese gangs are hiring operators in other countries and smuggling gold into Hyderabad, Kerala and other Indian cities," said Kalyan Revella, Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, at Hyderabad.
Revella said that his investigators had found passengers from Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia carrying illegal gold into Hyderabad. "During the course of the investigation, most of them disclosed that they had been handed the gold to smuggle into the city. They were to get a commission of $8,254 (Rs 500,000) per 1 kilogram," he said.
"Based on the confessions of detained passengers, we have investigated the cases and got some leads that some middlemen were hired by gangs based in China, who were targetting other gangs in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai. The motive of the gangs is to smuggle gold to India, and the middlemen lure passengers by offering attractive commissions," Revella added.
22/04/14 Mineweb
