Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials on Wednesday (January 10) unearthed a smuggling racket and arrested four passengers smuggling diamonds and foreign currency together worth ₹13.8 crore.
Based on a tip-off, the officials intercepted two passengers at Bengaluru and two at Hyderabad airports after they completed the boarding formalities. “The diamonds of 8053 carats and 5569 carats, natural and lab-grown, were concealed inside chocolate packets and headed to Dubai,” the officials said.
“The accused passengers are from Chickballapur and sourced the smuggled items from Mumbai before boarding the flight, to be handed over to their contacts in Dubai,” they said.
The officials suspect that the accused are part of a bigger racket and further investigation is on to ascertain the network.
