Gold smuggling case: Nepal seeks help from Hong Kong Customs in probe

Kathmandu [Nepal], July 29 : Nepal Customs Department has sought the help of Hong Kong Customs to solve the 100 kg gold smuggling case.
Notably, as much as 100 kg gold was smuggled to Nepal, investigation of which has been underway for the second week.
In the letter sent on Tuesday, the Nepal Department of Customs has asked the Hong Kong to provide the reason for allowing the gold smuggling under “lead without battery” veil and sought cooperation in the investigation.
“We have written a letter to the Hong Kong Customs asking how such a large amount of gold came to Kathmandu illegally through the airport,” Sobhakant Paudel, the Director General of the Customs Department told ANI.
Nepal’s Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) on July 19 has seized about 100 kilograms of gold hidden inside brakeshoe, a spare part of motorcycle and scooter, from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu.
The DRI got hold of the gold after it passed through the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
“Why was such a huge quantity of gold sent through Hong Kong customs? Why wasn’t the courier checked there? How could it bypass the X-ray machine of Hong Kong customs? We have asked such questions to the Hong Kong Customs,” Paudel added.
When the gold was brought to Nepal from Hong Kong, it was written ‘lead without battery’ in the manifest and ‘brakeshoe’ in other documents. Paudel said Hong Kong Customs has sent the reply letter with a commitment to help in the investigation and asked the government to send the Air Way Bill (full details).
He said that Hong Kong Customs will conduct further investigation based on the airway bill and will share the findings with the Nepal Customs.
While the authorities await the reply from Hong Kong Customs from where it was couriered to Nepal, the DRI also has suspected that earlier packages that landed in Nepal imported by Ready Trade Pvt. Ltd also contained the precious yellow metal.
As per the record from the Customs Department of Nepal, the company previously also has imported similar consignment multiple times before it was seized on July 19, 2023. As per the data, consignments weighing at least 1,997 Kilograms were imported from Hong Kong on different dates prior to July 19.
During a raid on July 26, at the Ready Trade’s warehouse in capital Kathmandu, the DRI seized 66 boxes of same items. Upon examination the officials didn’t find the gold in any of the “brake shoes” but they suspect tampering of the boxes.
“The Customs Department didn’t find gold in those items, primarily all that is iron. But what is suspicious is the total weight of those boxes is significantly lower than similar boxes seized on July 18 that contained smuggled gold,” Nawaraj Adhikari, the information officer at the Department of Revenue Investigation confirmed to ANI.
As per the DRI Spokesperson, the boxes recovered during the raid weighed just around 500 grams each compared to around 745 grams of the boxes seized on July 19.
“Size and the pattern of arranging the brake shoes are similar but the weights are different. It indicates that something has been removed from the boxes,” Adhikari added further.
According to the DRI, each box had 10 packets and each packet had two sets of the motorcycle brake shoes. In the previous week, the Police have confiscated a gold melting machine from one of the suspected Chinese national’s offices which the investigators believe has been used for the smuggling.
The investigating body- Department of Revenue Investigation till July 29 have arrested 17 people connected to the gold smuggling but the beneficiary owner of the gold still remains at large. DRI has arrested the owner of Ready Trade named Dilip Bhujel (21) who is reported to be just a daily wage worker hailing from an impoverished region of Dolakha.
The DRI on July 19 managed to confiscate the gold concealed in motorcycle/scooter brake shoes from the gate of Customs of Tribhuvan International Airport as it was being taken out in a taxi.
The gross weight of the smuggled gold was ascertained to be 155 kilograms, which also included electric shavers, according to officials at the mint division of the Nepal Rastra Bank, which has been entrusted with examining the metal. The DRI is yet to ask the central bank to melt the mix to determine the exact weight of the gold component.
The DRI also is making a formal request with the government to live-telecast the gold melting procedure through state-television channel in coming days.