Forever a ‘hot’ item as a store of value, the global craving for gold has over time, pushed individuals and groups to extreme and not always legal options to acquire the precious metal. Ruses to possess gold by means other than legitimate ones abound and one can only marvel at what, sometimes, are the extraordinary, even bizarre lengths which the ‘gold-crazy’ are inclin-ed to embrace in pursuit of possession.
Earlier this month – April 8 – the publication, World Asia, reported that the customs authorities in Hong Kong had realised what it described as its largest-ever gold smuggling bust, seizing 146 kilos of precious metal worth some US$10.7 million.
What the authorities appeared to marvel over however, was not the haul itself, but the meticulousness with which the smugglers reportedly approached the ‘packaging’ of the gold for shipping. The report said that the gold was melted and molded into parts like motor cores, screws and gears.