Kathmandu, October 14
Indications have emerged that the 21.5 kg of gold seized from Budhanilkantha may have entered Nepal through Tribhuvan International Airport.
During the investigation, a car rented by a Chinese national was found to have made repeated trips to the airport. The car was rented from September 27 to October 11 at a daily rate of Rs 8,000. An investigation officer said the vehicle appeared to have visited the airport up to five times.
“Within an 11-day period, the car appears to have travelled to the airport parking area as many as five times,” the investigation officer said. “The suspicious movements of the car have also led us to believe that the gold may have entered Nepal by air.”
The car had been rented by Han Fei, a Chinese national who has since been arrested. Han rented the vehicle from a reconditioned vehicle dealer and rental service immediately after arriving in Kathmandu on September 27. Police investigations have revealed that the car was rented specifically to transport gold.
During a raid by the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office on the morning of October 8, two gold bars weighing two kilograms each were also found in the car. Two additional bars weighing one kilogram each, wrapped in paper, were discovered in a compartment near the driver’s seat.
Similarly, all three Chinese nationals arrested with the gold had travelled to Kathmandu by air via Hong Kong. Police suspect that the seized gold also entered Kathmandu through the air route.
The three Chinese nationals currently in custody are 27-year-old Han Fei, 47-year-old Zhou Longxin and 37-year-old Wang Jianzheng, all from Jiangsu, Guangdong, China.
Immigration records show that two of them arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport on September 27 and the third on October 1.
According to police sources, the suspects were also found to have visited the airport repeatedly after arriving in Kathmandu. Police believe the seized gold may have entered Nepal by air because the suspects travelled to Kathmandu by air, repeatedly visited the airport and used the rented car to make as many as five trips there.
Investigators suspect that the gold may have been brought in a compact form that was easier to conceal and transport by air.
“Our investigation so far indicates that the gold entered through the airport. However, we are working to establish this more conclusively,” an investigation officer said.
A total of 21,750.68 grams of gold allegedly brought in by the Chinese group has been seized. Based on the market price on the day of seizure, the gold was valued at Rs 546,007,320.
The gold was recovered during a raid on a house in Upper Bhangal, Budhanilkantha. The Chinese nationals had rented the two-and-a-half-storey house for Rs 330,000 per month. Investigators also found that they had paid four months’ rent in advance.
The customs office at Tribhuvan International Airport is also conducting a further investigation into the gold smuggling case.
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