Hong Kong customs uncovers gold bars worth HK$46 million in Japan-bound shipment

Hong Kong customs has uncovered the largest gold bullion-smuggling case ever recorded by the department, after officers found HK$46 million (US$5.9 million) worth of the precious metal in an air cargo shipment bound for Japan.

Officers from the Customs and Excise Department’s air cargo division made the discovery when they acted on a risk assessment and intelligence analysis last Wednesday and searched a shipment intended for Japan.

Inspector Daniel Chan Wing-yin of the division said on Tuesday that the consignment was declared to contain toys and hats, among other items, with the shipment consisting of 124 packages.

“During an analysis of X-ray images, officers noticed that four packages displayed unusually high densities, inconsistent with the declared contents,” he said.

Officers also found that each of the suspicious packages weighed 17kg (37.5lbs), exceeding their declared individual weight of 1.1kg each.

Further inspection of the packages showed they each contained large cardboard boxes and two small ones.