Mumbai: The Directorate Revenue of Intelligence (DRI) has arrested two Turkey nationals for allegedly smuggling 16kg of gold worth Rs 13.5 crore at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Saturday.
The agency on specific intelligence intercepted two passengers — Bekar Ekmen and Sinan Komurcu —who arrived from Dubai by Emirates flight. During the search of their baggage, the DRI personnel found 16 gold bars wrapped concealed inside socks worn by them. When asked whether they had any legitimate documents to bring gold to India, they failed to give a satisfactory answer. “When questioned, the accused did not cooperate and gave evasive replies in respect of the source of the funds to buy so much gold. Hence we suspect there is a bigger racket and duo are part of it,” a DRI official. They also suspect the involvement of the hawala racket, the official said. — S Ahmed Ali