Hong Kong customs arrests Macau chauffeur on mega bridge after seizing HK$10 million in gold bars hidden in car
- Twenty gold bars, each weighing 1kg, found hidden in secret compartment inside car, superintendent says
- He adds haul was possibly intended for mainland China, where smugglers can make profit from price difference
Hong Kong customs officers have arrested a chauffeur and confiscated gold bars worth HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) hidden inside his car at a control point at the world’s longest sea crossing, the first such seizure in more than three years.
Superintendent Jason Lau Yuk-lung of customs’ syndicate crimes investigation bureau on Tuesday said officers found 20 gold bars, each weighing 1kg (2.2lbs), hidden in a secret compartment under the centre console next to the driver seat.
He added the haul was discovered after the seven-seater car was stopped for inspection at the border checkpoint before leaving the city via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Monday afternoon.
Inspector Wu Ming-chung of customs’ Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge cargo division said the car was taken for an X-ray examination after its 32-year-old driver, a Macau identity card holder, acted suspiciously. The examination of the car showed suspicious images.
Lau said the console box’s opening was facing the rear passenger seat.
“After removing the opening’s cover, a box containing 20 gold bars was in the secret compartment,” Lau said.
He also said the estimated value of the seized gold bars was about HK$10 million.
Customs officers arrested the driver on suspicion of exporting unmanifested cargo, an offence punishable by up to seven years in jail and a HK$2 million fine.
The superintendent said the bars were possibly intended for mainland China, where smugglers could make a profit from the price difference. He noted that gold was subject to tariffs of about 50 per cent on the mainland, in addition to strict import restrictions imposed by authorities there.
“The city’s price of gold per kilogram is about HK$30,000 higher than the price in mainland China,” Lau said. “Smugglers could have evaded HK$5 million in taxes if the consignment was successfully brought across the border illegally.”
He also revealed this was the first cross-border gold smuggling case since the fourth quarter of 2020.
“The last time we detected smuggling of gold slabs by a cross-boundary private car was back in 2020,” he said.
The suspect was being held for questioning as of Tuesday afternoon.
Lau did not rule out further arrests and said an investigation was under way to determine the origin of the gold, as well as the haul consignee.
He stressed customs would continue to exchange intelligence with authorities in Macau and the mainland, as well as overseas counterparts, to combat cross-border gold smuggling.
