CHENNAI: The DRI caught as many as 25 passengers who were sent as Kuruvis from Singapore on three flights on Sunday night and seized gold worth Rs 15 crores from them.
The DRI received a tip-off that gold in huge quantities was being smuggled into the city from Singapore.
Following that, the officers visited the Chennai airport and started to monitor the passengers who arrived from Singapore.
From Sunday night till Monday early morning, three flights arrived from Singapore and the officers on suspicion detained a total of 25 passengers.
The officers found the International smuggling group had sent the passengers as kuruvis (carriers) and all of them had gold hidden inside their clothes.
Two passengers including a woman had more than 1 kg of gold while others had less than 1 kg inside their clothes.
The smugglers sent the passengers on three different flights to avoid being caught by the customs.
The officers seized 20 kgs of gold valued at 15 crores and further investigation is on.
The officers are also investigating whether any customs officer or any other airport higher officers are linked to the smuggling group.