Air India Crew Member Arrested For Smuggling Rs 1.41 Crore Worth Of Gold From New York

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a major smuggling scandal involving an Air India crew member and seized around 1.37 kg of smuggled gold. The DRI officials have also arrested the Air India crew member for smuggling gold into India from New York. As per reports, the crew member, who was part of the Air India flight AI116 from New York (JFK) to Mumbai (BOM), was caught with concealed gold bars valued at Rs 1.41 crore.

According to the DRI officials, the arrest took place shortly after the aircraft landed in Mumbai on June 13. The authorities had initially conducted standard searches at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM), but nothing suspicious was found. However, intensified interrogation led the crew member to reveal the hidden location of a pouch containing the smuggled gold.

The investigation revealed that the crew member had been involved in similar activities previously and had confessed to multiple gold smuggling attempts. The officials have not disclosed the number of successful runs conducted earlier, but have confirmed that further details are being investigated. The DRI officers acted swiftly and traced the mastermind orchestrating the operation from within India, who had been exploiting airline crew routes to bypass customs regulations and transport gold into the country.

The officials confirmed that both the crew member and the mastermind are now in custody under the Customs Act. The investigation continues to ascertain the information regarding additional participants in the smuggling network. The agency is working to identify and apprehend all those involved in the operation.

Meanwhile, Air India has not yet responded to the incident. 

Further details regarding the incident are awaited.