Shaik Mohammed and Nizam were yesterday arrested for smuggling 5.33 kg of gold through the Indo-Myanmar border and bringing it to Chennai from Guwahati, an official release said.
The duo were intercepted at Egmore Railway Station here and they later confessed to the crime, it said.
DRI said the two were acting as couriers and found carrying 27 foreign-origin gold bars with markings worth Rs 1.62 crore concealed in specially made cavities of three suitcases.
The gold was seized and the two arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. They have been remanded to judicial custody, the release said.