The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested five people and seized 3.1 kg of foreign-origin gold, US dollars, and euros worth more than Rs 5.8 crore in a coordinated operation near Vijayawada, the agency said.
The DRI said officers carried out the action as part of work to break up a major gold smuggling ring operating in the area. Investigators suspect the syndicate moved gold from Bangladesh toward Hyderabad, using Kolkata as a transit point on the route.
Enforcement teams stopped two of the five suspects in an SUV that was carrying foreign currency. The cash seized in that interception formed part of the overall haul that the DRI valued at over Rs 5.8 crore together with the metal.
Three other suspects were caught on a bus while they were travelling with gold bars, the agency said. The bars accounted for the 3.1 kg of foreign-origin gold that officers took into custody during the same operation near Vijayawada.
The DRI described the case as a coordinated operation in which five individuals were arrested and the combined seizure included both bullion and foreign notes. All of the gold was of foreign origin, and the currency included US dollars and euros, according to the agency.
Officials did not spell out further charges or court dates in their account of the arrests. They did confirm that every person picked up in the operation was sent before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.
With all five in judicial custody, the DRI has put on record the arrest count, the 3.1 kg gold figure, and the total value of more than Rs 5.8 crore for the seized gold and foreign currency near Vijayawada.
The agency said the action dismantled a major smuggling operation tied to the Vijayawada area, with two separate interceptions in the same coordinated effort. One team hit the SUV carrying dollars and euros, while another team boarded the bus where the gold bars were found, the DRI said in its statement on the case.