A female flight attendant of Jet Airways has been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for allegedly trying to smuggle out USD 4,80,200 out of the country, according to an official statement. The accused was intercepted by DRI officials when she was on a flight to Hong Kong yesterday, it said.

The DRI officials found USD 4,80,200 (approximately Rs 3.21 crore) wrapped in foil in her possession, the statement said. On investigation, it was found that she was working with an agent, named Amit Malhotra, a resident of Vivek Vihar area here, a senior DRI official said.

He said that Amit Malhotra was following a modus operandi of using crew members for smuggling of forex. “Malhotra would collect money from some bullion dealers in Delhi and send it via some air hostess to select foreign destinations. The money was being used for purchasing gold abroad. The gold would then be sent to India illegally,” the official said.

Malhotra had befriended the Jet airways crew six months ago during a flight to India, he said. The DRI suspected the role of some other crew members of Jet Airways in smuggling out forex, the official said. “Malhotra has been illegally smuggling forex for the past over one year. There are some other crew members involved in the case. We are also trying to find out the details of bullion dealers involved in this syndicate,” he said. Both Malhotra and the Jet Airways crew member have been arrested, the official said.

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