The plot to smuggle gold concealed in air-freight addressed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consulate here was possibly seeded years before.
Investigators said two of the main accused in the high-profile case had struck a chance friendship when they were employees at a supermarket in the State capital.
Life took the youth, Sarith P.S. and Sandeep Nair, in different directions only to bring them back together again in 2018. Sandeep, meanwhile, had journeyed to Dubai several times. Sarith got employment as a liaison at the consulate.
Sandeep briefly showed up on the radar of the Customs in 2016 when officers named him as accused in a case relating to the smuggling of 1.5 kg of gold via the international airport here.
However, enforcers could not retrieve any contraband from him, and the case against Sandeep has remained in limbo since.
Investigators said Sarith had told Sandeep that he had imported expensive mobile phones, perfumes, and electronic items without paying duty by getting the goods parcelled from Dubai in air-cargo shipments earmarked for the mission here.
New accomplice
Sandeep subsequently convinced Sarith to use the same channel to import gold from the UAE clandestinely.
Swapna Suresh, the second accused, joined the consulate later. Her fluency in Arabic and English and communication skills won her the trust of consulate officials. Officials said the duo had recruited Swapna for the smuggling bid to exploit her standing in the consulate. She had also cultivated powerful connections in the government by working for the mission and organising events at its behest.
Sarith and Swapna left the consulate in 2019 but often worked for the mission on a “request basis”.
On July 5, when Customs delayed the clearance of the suspect cargo that contained 30 kg of gold concealed in imported piping, Swapna allegedly dropped the name of high officials to “harry” officers into releasing the “diplomatic baggage” without examination. Investigators believe the gold smuggling plot gathered momentum after Sandeep introduced Rameez, another accused in the case, to the other suspects. They said Rameez could have organised the Dubai end of the operation through Faisil Fareed, another suspect in the case who was still at large.