India, July 26 -- Two gold smuggling syndicates using aircraft at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to hide and retrieve contraband have been busted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), with eight people arrested and 15.764kg of foreign-origin gold worth Rs.23.63 crore seized.

The arrests were made in two separate operations by the DRI's Mumbai zonal unit under the Customs Act, 1962.

In the first operation, three foreign passengers arriving from Addis Ababa were intercepted on Thursday and Friday. A search of the aircraft led to the recovery of 12kg of 24-carat foreign-origin gold bars worth around Rs.18 crore.

According to the DRI, the passengers had concealed the gold inside the aircraft so that o...