KATHMANDU: Regarding one quintal of gold seized on July 19, the Department of Customs (DoC) has written a letter to Hong Kong Customs asking them the reason for allowing the gold smuggling under ‘Lead Without Battery’ veil and sought cooperation in the investigation.
According to the Department, the Hong Kong Customs has responded to the letter and promised to help in the investigation.
“We have written a letter to the Hong Kong Customs asking how such a large amount of gold came to Kathmandu illegally,” said Sobhakant Paudel, the Director General of the Department.
The DoC sent the letter to Hong Kong Customs on Tuesday.
About one quintal of gold that came in ‘break shoe’ through Hong Kong was seized by the Department of Revenue Investigation on July 19. The gold was recovered after passing through the Customs office at Tribhuvan International Airport.
“Why was such a large amount of gold sent through Hong Kong customs? Why was it not checked properly? Why didn’t the X-ray machine of Hong Kong customs detect it? Why were the goods sent to help the gold smugglers? We have asked such questions with the Hong Kong Customs,” said Director General Paudel.
When the gold was brought to Nepal from Hong Kong, it was written ‘lead without battery’ in the manifest and ‘break shoe’ in other documents.
Paudel informed that Hong Kong Customs has sent the reply letter with a commitment to help in the investigation and asked the government to send the Air Way Bill (full details).
He said that Hong Kong Customs will conduct further investigation based on the airway bill and will share the findings with the Nepal Customs.
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