Russian customs stopped a plot to smuggle dozens of gold bars to Dubai by swapping suitcases
An international conspiracy to smuggle 225 kilograms of gold worth an estimated 760 billion rubles (roughly $12.7 million) through Moscow was thwarted by sharp-eyed customs agents, the Federal Customs Service (FTS) or Russia announced on Thursday. The scheme involved two groups of three travelers who swapped suitcases inside the Vnukovo airport. The group bound for the United Arab Emirates was caught with a number of gold bars in their bags.
The attempted heist took place on August 11, the FTS said in a statement. According to the customs service, three Armenian nationals smuggled the gold inside the airport in their roll-aboard bags. Since Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, they were not subject to customs control. Once inside, however, they traded suitcases with a trio of Russian citizens, who had come in with empty baggage. The Russians were en route to Dubai in the UAE.
Customs officers monitoring the airport’s security cameras, however, noticed something strange – three passengers dragging their wheeled suitcases with considerable effort. They began following the trio and saw them swapping bags with the other men, proceeding to the gate for their Yerevan flight with much more spring in their step. The customs inspectors decided to do a spot check on the passengers headed to the UAE, who had already boarded their flight.
“The smugglers with the valuable cargo were detained by operatives of the Vnukovo customs after boarding their plane,” the FTS said.
After coming on board and checking the suspects’ bags, customs officers found 45 gold bars, the FTS said in the initial report. None of them had been declared on cleared customs inspection. All had the legally mandated serial numbers and other identification marks. The newspaper Kommersant later reported that the haul amounted to a total of 71 gold bars – 14 ingots of 12kg each and 57 smaller, one-kilo bars.
Prosecutors said they intend to charge the group with three felonies, including criminal conspiracy and smuggling of goods designated of strategic importance.
A Moscow court ordered the three Armenian nationals jailed until September 11. They were identified as Artak Ayvazyan, Karen Darbinyan and Arman Harutyunyan, officially unemployed. Their attorneys made a motion to keep them under house arrest instead, but the court denied it. The Russian citizens were released pending trial after signing statements that they would not leave Moscow.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com
