Mumbai Crime: DRI Busts Smuggling Syndicate At CSMI Airport, 8 Held; Seizes Gold And Diamonds Worth ₹13.74 Crore
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, October 2, 2026: Officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai have busted a gold and diamond smuggling syndicate and arrested eight persons, including six transit passengers from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The agency officials have seized diamonds worth Rs 1.10 crore and gold worth Rs 12.64 crore. All the six transit passengers told DRI officials that they had been working for the same syndicate and had handed over smuggled gold to Ansari as per the instructions of the syndicate members so as to smuggle the gold into India, officials said.
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Eight Persons Arrested
Those arrested have been identified as Karnataka resident M.S. Lowna Balli (24), Bhiwandi resident S.K. Ansari (27), Bangladesh nationals Shahadat Hossain (29), Mubarak Hossen (32), Mohammad Jual (23), Muhammad Mijanuddin (25), and Sri Lankan nationals Mohamed Rifas (43) and Mohamed Anwar Aashiq Hasaan (56).
DRI Intercepts Suspects
According to DRI sources, specific intelligence was received regarding one person, namely S.K. Ansari, working as ground staff in a food eatery at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, who is involved in gold and diamond smuggling through CSMIA, Mumbai.
Based on the said intelligence, the officers identified the passenger Lowna Balli and intercepted him and S.K. Ansari at the washroom near the departure gate while Ansari was giving some brown-taped packet to him.
Further, the personal searches of Lowna Balli and Ansari were conducted. During the personal search of Lowna Balli, a packet was recovered from him and a black sock containing three capsules purported to be gold in wax form was recovered from Ansari.
Transit Passengers Identified
Upon being questioned, Lowna Balli stated that he had not declared the diamonds. Upon further questioning, Ansari, with regard to the gold dust recovered from him, stated that it was handed over to him by one transit passenger and five more transit passengers were waiting for him in the transit area carrying gold, and he was to collect the gold from them in the washroom near the transit area of CSMIA.
Their questioning further led to the arrest of four Bangladeshi and two Sri Lankan nationals who were also part of the syndicate. The officials have recovered and seized diamonds worth Rs 1.10 crore and 8,320 grams of gold valued at Rs 12.64 crore.
All the passengers informed DRI that they were working for a gold smuggling syndicate and had instructions to hand over capsules containing gold to Ansari. The passengers also informed DRI that they had the description of Ansari and the location where the handover was to take place.
Travel Routes Revealed
Upon being questioned regarding their travel details, all the passengers informed officials that they were travelling from Dubai to Bangladesh (Dhaka) via Mumbai, while Mohamed Rifas informed them that he was travelling from Dubai to Singapore via Mumbai and Mohamed Anwar Aashiq Hasaan informed them that he was travelling from Colombo to Singapore via Mumbai.
Lowna Balli, in his voluntary statement to the DRI, admitted to having attempted to smuggle the said diamonds out of India for monetary consideration. In the present case, there was a duty evasion much greater than the threshold of Rs 50 lakh.
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Mumbai Crime: DRI Busts Gold And Diamond Smuggling Syndicate At CSMI Airport; 8 ArrestedTwo Sent To Judicial Custody
Advocates Arun Gupta, Ashish Singh and Birendra Yadav argued for Mohamed Rifas and Mohamed Anwar Aashiq Hasaan, after which they were sent to judicial custody.
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