India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized around 21 kg of foreign-origin gold in two separate operations, valued cumulatively at more than Rs 61 crore, as part of seven operations conducted across the country. Five persons have been arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, according to a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau on 23 September 2026.

The larger of the two operations took place on 19 September, when DRI officers acting on specific intelligence intercepted two new Thar vehicles near Palwal Toll Plaza. Officers discovered a concealed cavity in the chassis of each vehicle, created by removing and expertly welding back a portion of the chassis over the rear wheel — a method the DRI described as "ingenious and sophisticated" and said proved extremely difficult to detect. A total of 15.18 kg of gold in bar form, valued at approximately Rs 23.30 crore, was recovered from the two vehicles. Four persons accompanying the vehicles were arrested, and preliminary intelligence indicated the gold had been smuggled from Myanmar.

In an earlier operation on 16 September, DRI officers stopped a passenger at Jewar Toll Plaza who was travelling by bus from Gorakhpur towards Delhi. A personal search led to the recovery of 5.8 kg of foreign-origin gold — comprising five 1-kg bars and approximately 800 grams of cut pieces — concealed in a specially designed cotton waist belt. The arrested individual had, according to preliminary investigation, received the gold in Kathmandu and brought it into India across the India-Nepal land border.

Taken together with earlier actions, DRI officers seized around 123 kg of gold and around 10 kg of silver over the preceding three weeks, collectively valued at more than Rs 187 crore, with 58 persons arrested for gold smuggling across those operations. The DRI said the operations underscore its continued focus on disrupting organised gold-smuggling networks and detecting increasingly sophisticated methods of concealment.

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