Overview

• DRI seized 10.488 kg of 24-carat gold valued at about Rs 12.58 crore and arrested 13 suspects, including two airport staff, two handlers, six Sri Lankan nationals, two Bangladeshi nationals and an alleged Mumbai-based mastermind.
• The gold syndicate used transit passengers flying from Dubai via Mumbai to Singapore, Bangkok and Dhaka, concealing metal in egg-shaped wax capsules inside their bodies before passing it to complicit staff in the departure area.
• Mumbai Customs reported seven narcotics cases between October 8 and 11, recovering roughly 50 kg of suspected hydroponic weed worth over Rs 44 crore from passengers arriving from Phuket, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, with arrests under the NDPS Act.
• Individual interceptions included 8.87 kg of hydroponic weed from a Kuala Lumpur passenger and 2.003 kg from a Bangkok arrival who told officers he carried the drugs for Rs 5,000, alongside additional seizures ranging from about 1.76 kg to 11.52 kg.
• Customs also intercepted a passenger from Bangkok carrying a concealed haul of live exotic animals—including iguanas, bearded dragons, snakes, boas and juvenile Aldabra tortoises—with an arrest under wildlife laws as rescue teams took custody of the species.