DRI Operation Bullion Blaze: 11.88 kg gold seized, 11 arrested

Said is committed to protecting India's economic and fiscal stature

DRI PR / IH News Desk

NATIONAL, November 12, 2025: The DRI has dismantled a significant gold-smuggling operation in Mumbai, known as “Operation Bullion Blaze.” This crackdown revealed a sophisticated ring engaged in importing gold illegally, refining it in secretive melting units and distributing the refined bullion within the grey market.

DRI officers recently executed coordinated searches across four different locations: two illegal gold melting facilities and two unregistered retail shops. At the melting units, authorities discovered fully functional furnaces designed for transforming smuggled gold into bars and they apprehended the operators recovering 6.35 kg of gold during the operation.

Follow-up searches at the retail shops linked to the syndicate's mastermind yielded an extra 5.53 kg of gold bars.

In total, the operation resulted in the seizure of 11.88 kg of 24-carat gold valued at ₹15.05 crore along with 8.72 kg of silver worth ₹13.17 lakh all confiscated under the Customs Act, 1962. Eleven people connected to the smuggling and illicit trading of gold arrested including the mastermind who has an established history of gold smuggling crimes.

The criminal operation involved a network that included the mastermind's father, a manager, four hired melters, an accountant for record-keeping and three personnel responsible for the distribution of the gold.

Preliminary investigations indicate the existence of a well-coordinated conspiracy aimed at smuggling gold and selling it unlawfully in clear violation of India's gold import regulations, thereby jeopardizing governmental revenue. The DRI remains resolute in its efforts to eliminate organized smuggling operations that undermine economic integrity, disrupt market equilibrium, and threaten fiscal health.

The DRI said is committed to protecting India's economic and fiscal stature, ensuring a just and transparent trading environment. It added further investigations into the seizures are ongoing.

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