One pretty big smuggling bust has now come out from Mumbai where Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials arrested six people at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on July 16 . And honestly,the details of how this whole operation was allegedly running are making it feel much bigger than just catching few passengers at airport.
According to DRI officials,gold worth approximately ₹7.50 crore was seized during this operation . That is not small amount by any measure . And what makes this case really stand out is that among those arrested were three nationals from Philippines,which points toward some kind of international network being involved here .
The arrested individuals include local suspects Himanshu Upadhyay who is 25 years old,Mohid Hasan Siddiqui who is 32,and Feroz Sayyed who is 47 . The three foreign nationals arrested are Lakim Alimudin Nasser,Benny Lloyd Olivo,and Christine Joy Andaya Pornasdoro .
Now this is where whole thing gets really uncomfortable .
DRI says Upadhyay was actually contractual worker at airport itself . He was allegedly caught in the act of handing over black pouches containing smuggled gold dust to Siddiqui . And source of those pouches? Reportedly Sayyed,who was managing store inside international departure area of same airport.
So allegedly you had airport staff,a store operator inside departure zone,and foreign passengers all working together in one chain . Transit passengers were reportedly being used to carry gold from places like Dubai and Bangkok into Mumbai,bypassing standard customs checks entirely.
Few key facts standing out from this case:
- Officers seized four gold bars weighing 5,251 grams worth approximately ₹7.50 crore.
- Upadhyay,a contractual airport worker,was allegedly caught transferring gold dust concealed in black pouches .
- Transit passengers from Philippines were reportedly part of network bringing gold from Dubai and Bangkok .
But here is where legal side of this case becomes genuinely complicated.
Defense lawyer Prabhakar Tripathi has raised serious points about the three foreign nationals . His argument is that they were,and this is direct quote,"bona fide international transit passengers traveling from Philippines to Thailand . They neither intended to enter India nor had they crossed immigration for entry into the country." Legal team is essentially saying these individuals never formally entered India and therefore customs declarations for transit passengers need proper judicial examination.
And honestly,that defense raises real questions which courts will now have to carefully work through . What exactly are legal obligations of passengers who are only in transit and never crossed immigration? Where does jurisdiction begin and end in such situations?
This case also forces uncomfortable conversation about insider roles in such smuggling networks . Because if airport employees with access to restricted zones are allegedly involved,then security checks at entry and exit points alone are clearly not enough . Problem seems to go deeper right now .
Whether foreign nationals were genuinely unaware participants or active members of this syndicate is something investigation and courts will have to establish . And with such different versions of events already being presented,this case seems far from settled…
