The Hong Kong customs authority has told Nepal’s Customs Department that the smugglers used fake documents in July to get the 60kg gold cleared from Hong Kong customs, according to a senior official at the department. The smuggled gold was seized in Kathmandu.

Nepal’s customs authority sent letters to Hong Kong customs days after the gold smuggled with motorcycle brake shoe imports was seized on July 18. A follow-up letter was sent in late August after Hong Kong officials delayed the sharing of details that Nepal had sought.

The consignment of the seized gold belonged to Ready Trade Private Limited, a Nepali company.

“We received a response from the Hong Kong customs about seven days ago,” said Shovakant Poudel, director general of the customs department. “They notified us that the goods, including the smuggled gold, were taken to Nepal using fake documents.”

After the seizure of the gold, the customs had first sent a letter to Hong Kong seeking details of the incident and the individuals involved in smuggling the precious metal.

In response, the Hong Kong customs had notified the Nepali department that they would deliver on Nepal’s concerns by directly contacting the customs officials in Kathmandu.

As the Hong Kong Customs delayed its response, the customs department sent a follow-up letter in late August.

Poudel said the response received from Hong Kong and the proof gathered during the customs department’s investigation had been sent to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police.

Even though the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) first probed the gold smuggling case, it handed the task over to the CIB after questions were raised over suspected failure to treat the case as organised crime.

The CIB has sent its senior investigating officer to Hong Kong. Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Acharya flew to Hong Kong last week to investigate local connections to gold smuggling, Nepal Police spokesperson Deputy Inspector General Kuber Kadayat told the Post.

In July, the revenue probe had seized the gold smuggled in eight consignments at Sinamangal, Kathmandu right after it got clearance from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) customs.

Then, the DRI raided the warehouse of Ready Trade, at Sorhakhutte in Kathmandu and seized 66 boxes of motorcycle brake shoes. Many of the brake shoes were lighter than those seized at Sinamangal, raising suspicions that the gold from the motorcycle component had already been extracted.

The DRI also raided the house of Rakesh Kumar Adukia, one of the prime suspects in the smuggling case, as part of its effort to find the actual owners of the seized gold. Later, on August 11, the immigration office at the TIA took Rohan Adukiya, the son of Rakesh Adukiya, into custody in connection with the gold smuggling case.

It also raided a factory at Tokha in Kathmandu, a suspected site used by the smugglers for melting gold. It arrested 18 people suspecting their involvement in gold smuggling.

On the other hand, the customs department formed a taskforce to identify the weak points at the TIA customs that had given clearance for the smuggled gold, despite an X-ray machine installed there. It had suspended two of its staffers who inspected the consignments at the airport.

Subsequently, the DRI arrested airport customs officer Santosh Chand, checker Kumar Dhakal, a non-gazetted second-class staffer, and X-ray technician Saroj Shrestha on charges of clearing the smuggled gold through the TIA customs on July 23.

“Our own investigation also suggested weaknesses and possible ill intent of some staff members,” Poudel told the Post earlier. “The probe also suggested the need for reforms in the use of technology to curb smuggling.”

Poudel said the department had already told the TIA customs to implement several measures, including increased vigilance. “Based on the instructions, we have already deployed separate staff for X-ray and customs clearance,” said a customs official at the TIA.