Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's Chennai zonal unit raided multiple locations here in early hours of Tuesday and seized 20.6 kilogram gold of foreign origin valued at an estimate of Rs 6.88 crore.

Four people including the kingpin, his aide cum relative and two carriers have been arrested and sent to judicial custody.

DRI officials also seized a BMW car and Rs 21 lakh under the Customs Act, 1962 from the arrested persons.

Interrogation of the apprehended persons revealed that the Chennai-based kingpin who is a resident of Choolaimedu, used to allegedly operate in the domestic sector of various airports. The gang used to collect gold bars from transit passengers at the respective airports, carry them back to Chennai domestic sector and hand over the smuggled items to the kingpin and his aides.

The investigation revealed that Tuesday's seized gold was smuggled from Dubai to Chennai through Mumbai.

A part of the gold was also smuggled directly from Sri Lanka to India through the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu.

Due to strong demand of gold during the festival season, and possibly on account of the steep rise in gold prices in the last quarter, there has been a spurt in the activities of organised gangs indulging in smuggling gold into India.

Further investigation is in progress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)