Pair caught at Qingdao airport with 7.6kg of undeclared gold items

Customs officials in the city of Qingdao have seized 16 gold items being smuggled from Japan to China, the largest amount seized by local authorities in recent years, a mainland news website reports.

On July 29, a Chinese man and woman flying from Tokyo attempted to clear customs checks at Qingdao Liuting International Airport, saying they had nothing to declare. An x-ray inspection of their six pieces of luggage revealed items made of high-density metal, which prompted customs officials to open their bags for further examination, the report said.

Officials found 16 gold items along with an invoice for 40.96 million yen, the equivalent of 2.68 million yuan (HK$3.15 million). The gold items weighed a total of 7,640 grams.