306 live exotic sea animals seized at air cargo Mumbai
These animals were being attempted to be smuggled into India.
In a joint operation with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Customs Preventive Unit (CPU), Ramanathapuram, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 4.9 Kg of foreign origin gold in the sea off Vedhalai coast, Mandapam on the intervening night of 3-4 April.
A press release on Saturday said specific intelligence was developed by the officers of DRI that foreign origin gold is being smuggled into India from Sri Lanka through the Vedhalai coast in Ramanathapuram district by a gang using fishing boats.
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Subsequently, officers of DRI and ICG mounted surveillance over the movement of suspected fishing boats at Vedhalai Coastal area near Mandapam.
In the early hours of 4 April, the officers identified a suspected boat at mid sea and chased it in an ICG vessel and intercepted it. Just before the point of interception, the officers noticed that a consignment was thrown in the sea by one of the persons on board the suspected boat.
There were three persons on board the Sri Lankan boat and during interrogation they admitted that the consignment thrown in the sea consisted of foreign origin gold smuggled from the island nation and it was received at deep sea from a boat from Sri Lanka.
In the meantime, officers of CPU Ramanathapuram also joined in a boat and the location where the smuggled gold was thrown inside the sea was secured and a search operation was carried out. On 5 April, the smuggled gold was retrieved after extensive search operations. On opening the consignment retrieved from the sea bed, crude gold bars of different sizes weighing 4.9 Kg and valued Rs 3.43 crores were found. The gold bars were tightly packed in a towel thrown inside the sea to avoid detection.
The DRI officers have seized the gold bars and all three persons have been apprehended. They are being interrogated.
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