The Customs Service of Hong Kong airport seized gold pieces worth 84 million Hongkonese dollars (9.9 million euros, 10.7 million dollars) camouflaged as machinery pieces, becoming the largest contraband operation of this metal in more than two decades.
The merchandise, hidden within a cargo that was destined tokyo, consisted of two air compressors with a combined weight of 775 kilograms, according to the Department of Customs and Special Taxes Hongkonés.
The load was inspected at the airport load terminal on March 27, the deputy superintendent Ho Tin-Hong explained on Monday, after an X-ray exam unleashed the suspicions of customs agents. “After removing the engine housing, we discovered that his rotor was wrapped in a rope wheel tied with adhesive tape. It didn’t look like a normal rotor,” said the agent.
A more thorough inspection led the agents to discover another five gold pieces in the form of motor rotor, as well as a gear and three screw axes, all hidden in the engines and the machines of the machines. The researchers believe that the smuggers melted at high temperatures and introduced it into special molds before painting them with silver color so that they seem machinery components.
According to official reports, the two intercepted rotors at the airport had a weight of 43.2 kilos and 45.3 kilos, respectively, while four other gold objects found in the load added a total of 57.5 kilos.
“We confiscate gold with a combined weight of 146 kilos hidden in the two machines,” said the head of the department. Preliminary research suggests that the smuggling operation was intended to avoid the import tariffs of Japan, which are around 10%.
According to the agents, the confiscation has become the greatest seizure of smuggling gold in Hong Kong – both in terms of value and weight – since the records began in 2000.
The customs authorities arrested on Wednesday of last week to the director of a local company that appeared as an issuer and whose company seemed to have no real activity, which has led to consider the possibility that it is a ghost entity.
The detainee is suspected of an attempt to export undeclared load, a crime punished with up to seven years in prison and a fine of 2 million dollars from Hong Kong (about 235,926 euros or 255,402 US dollars). This is the third significant case of gold smuggling that the customs agents have uncovered this 2024.
In January and February of this year, the officials arrested two residents of Macao and seized gold bullion hidden in their cars before they left Hong Kong through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge.
