Indian Nationals Smuggle Gold to Dubai Using Modified Underwear
The Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) of the Indonesian National Police has revealed that illegal gold smuggling by Indian nationals to Dubai was carried out using modified underwear.
Director of Specific Crimes at Bareskrim, Brigadier General Moh Irhamni, said investigators discovered this after conducting further searches on Monday (17/8).
He explained that investigators searched two locations: a house belonging to the Indian national suspects and a shophouse used as an illegal gold processing site in North Jakarta.
“We have carried out further investigation following the uncovering of the gold smuggling to Dubai,” he told reporters on Tuesday (18/8).
Irhamni said that from the search at the first location, his team found evidence including 20 pairs of men’s underpants modified with pockets and 57 items of women’s underwear.
He explained that the perpetrators smuggled the illegal gold by melting it into powder and mixing it with chemicals to make it pliable.
After that, Irhamni said, the perpetrators hid the gold inside the modified men’s and women’s underwear. Because of its pliable texture, the smuggled gold became undetectable and could deceive officers.
“So it was not detected as metal by airport X-ray machines, and when touched or searched it did not feel like metal, but like ordinary, pliable skin,” he said.
In addition, police also seized a number of other items including mobile phones, plane tickets, several bank books and ATM cards, a car and a motorcycle.
Meanwhile, at the second location, police seized a money counting machine, a gold purity testing machine, black powder, metal pieces suspected to be gold, a sewing machine for modifying underwear, a smelting machine, and other items.
“They operated here, according to statements from local witnesses, for approximately eight months,” he said.
Previously, Bareskrim arrested two Indian nationals involved in a syndicate smuggling illegal gold from Indonesia to Dubai.
Both were arrested in different apartments in North Jakarta in the early hours of Sunday (16/8). From the first location, investigators found two gold bars weighing approximately one kilogram each, as well as gold in the form of rings weighing about half a kilogram.
At the second location, investigators found a site suspected of being used to process gold before it was smuggled abroad. Police also found 18 pieces of white metal described as residue from the gold processing, weighing approximately 18 kilograms.
“This is the residue, close to silver. Residue from gold processing. There are 18 pieces, approximately 18 kilograms. That means the pure gold already smuggled could be many times more, perhaps ten times the amount found. This is only the residue,” he explained.
In addition to the gold and processing residue, police also seized cash in rupiah and US dollars, as well as various equipment suspected of being used for gold processing in the apartment.
Irhamni revealed that the two foreign nationals had only been in Indonesia for about two months. They entered using passports for purposes as investors or for trade work.