New Delhi, May 12: In a covert intelligence operation code-named “Golden Tap”, the officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted an air cargo consignment on Wednesday at Delhi Air Cargo Complex, on the suspicion that it might have smuggled gold concealed therein.

The consignment declared to contain Triangle Valves, had originated from Guangzhou, China, and had arrived at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport by a Japan Airlines flight.

After a thorough and prolonged examination which continued till early Thursday morning, a large number of the imported triangle valves were found to have 24 karat gold concealed in them.

The intricate method of concealment, which necessitated a careful and time-consuming extraction process, would have escaped detection had it not been for the specific intelligence gathered by DRI officers. After an intensive examination, the officers of DRI were able to recover 61.5 kilograms of gold having a market value of Rs 32.5 crore from the consignment. The recovered gold, found to be of 99 percent purity, has been seized.