New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said on Tuesday that in a pan-India operation, the agency has busted a gold smuggling syndicate run by Sudanese nationals operating through Nepal border with the arrest of 10 persons, including seven Sudanese and three Indian nationals.

A DRI official said that as of now, the agency has seized a total of 101.7 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 51 crore and cash to the tune of Rs 1 crore in different operations carried out in Patna, Pune and Mumbai.

The seized gold was mostly in paste form which was brought to India through the Indo-Nepal border and then transported via train or by air to different parts of the country, primarily to Mumbai.

"The DRI officials intercepted three Sudanese nationals on February 19 when they were boarding a train for Mumbai from Patna. A total of 37.126 kg gold paste in 40 packets was recovered from them. They had ingeniously concealed the gold in specially made cavity of the sleeveless jackets worn by them," said the official.

In the second operation, two Sudanese women were intercepted on February 20 in Pune while travelling from Hyderabad to Mumbai by bus. The DRI recovered 5.615 kg of smuggled gold in assorted form from their possession.

The third set of two Sudanese nationals travelling to Mumbai from Patna was intercepted at the Mumbai railway station on February 20. Gold paste weighing 38.76 kg in 40 packets was recovered from them.

"Acting swiftly on the leads provided by the smugglers/carriers, the DRI officers recovered about 20.2 kg smuggled gold in assorted forms along with Rs 74 lakh worth foreign currency and Rs 63 lakh in Indian currency from different premises in Mumbai, which were being used for extraction of smuggled gold. Three persons were apprehended in this follow-up action," the DRI official said.