Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested a woman employed in an eatery at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after recovering 3 kg of gold bars worth around Rs 5 crore concealed in her socks on Tuesday.Recently, the Centre increased import duty on gold to 15%, comprising a basic customs duty of 10% and an agriculture infrastructure and development cess of 5%. As a result the price of gold has shot up, leading to fears of increased smuggling activity.The woman, identified by officials as Shaheen Shaikh, worked at an eatery in the airport’s departure area. DRI officers said they had received intelligence inputs indicating an active gold smuggling syndicate using insider assistance at the airport.Shaikh admitted that she had received the contraband from an unidentified transit passenger and was to hand it over to a recipient carrying a token as verification.She is believed to have told investigators that she had been promised monetary consideration for facilitating the handover.Officials added that they suspect this may not have been the first instance of her involvement. DRI is investigating to identify the courier who passed the gold to Shaikh and to trace the intended recipient.
