The South Zone Task Force team of the Hyderabad police on Wednesday busted an international gold smuggling racket and arrested four people, also seizing 4.19 kg gold and a significant amount of foreign currency.
The arrested have been identified as Zafar Ahmed (28), Syed Wajeed (25), Arif Ali Shaik (40) and Md Taheruddin (24), the Times of India reports.
Acting on a tip of, the team nabbed the accused near Omer Hotel in Chandrayangutta on Wednesday and seized 36 gold biscuits of foreign origin along with Rs 16 lakh cash, 2500 Saudi Riyals and 910 UAE Dirhams from the possession of the accused.
According to the TOI report, the accused confessed during interrogation that Feroz Khan in Dubai, who is now the fifth accused, purchased gold biscuits and sent them to Hyderabad through passengers coming here by flight.
"Feroz selects poor labourers waiting at the Dubai airport to return to Hyderabad and by offering them handsome commission, he sends one or two gold biscuits with each passenger," Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahender Reddy told the newspaper.
The money after selling the gold, is sent back to Feroz through the hawala system and the gang had been operating for around three months.