Three Smuggling Attempts Foiled, State Secures 48.6 Kg of Gold
Indonesia has successfully foiled gold smuggling attempts by foreign nationals within the past week. At least 48.6 kilograms of gold were secured by officers from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Indonesian National Police.
In the first case, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise secured around 48 pieces of gold with a total weight of 23.78 kg in different forms, consisting of 41 pieces of 24-carat cylindrical gold weighing 17.43 kg and 7 pieces of gold bars weighing 6.35 kg. The smuggling attempt was uncovered at Soekarno-Hatta Airport when the perpetrators were about to fly abroad. There were seven perpetrators, all Chinese nationals.
Director General of Customs and Excise Djaka Budhi Utama said the perpetrators used different methods to smuggle the gold. For the cylindrical or bullet-shaped gold, the perpetrators deliberately inserted it into their genitals to evade officers. For the gold bars, the perpetrators handed them over to ground handling staff at the loading dock.
In the second case, the Directorate of Special Crimes at the Criminal Investigation Department uncovered an alleged illegal gold mining network operated by Indian nationals, with plans to smuggle the gold to Dubai. At least 2.5 kg of gold was secured. Investigators raided two apartments in North Jakarta and arrested two Indian nationals. At the first location, they found approximately 2.5 kilograms of gold, consisting of two gold bars of about one kilogram each and gold rings weighing about half a kilogram, stored in a safe. At the second location, they found a suspected gold processing site and 18 pieces of white metal residue weighing about 18 kilograms, believed to be by-products of gold processing.
In the third case, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise foiled a gold smuggling attempt to Hong Kong via Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Officers secured 30 gold bars weighing a total of 22.317 kilograms worth around Rp60 billion, carried by two Chinese nationals. The two perpetrators, identified as ZC and ZL, were arrested at Terminal 3 International Departures on Thursday. ZC was found carrying seven gold bars weighing 8.237 kilograms hidden in a pouch in cabin luggage, while ZL was found carrying 23 gold bars weighing 14.080 kilograms using a body strap method.