OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police arrested three males of their 50s on Wednesday for allegedly smuggling gold into Japan by exploiting a shared restroom loophole at Kansai International Airport, stories the Yomiuri Shimbun (May 20).
The suspects are accused of violating the Customs Act and evading consumption taxes after bringing 4 kilograms of gold cash and bullion from Hong Kong into Osaka final December.
Police consider the trio’s motive was to buy tax-free gold in Hong Kong, smuggle it into Japan, and promote it at market costs that embody Japan’s consumption tax, illegally pocketing the tax distinction as pure revenue.
Investigative sources revealed the brazen smuggling tactic relied on a selected restroom situated inside the airport’s customs space. At the time of the incident, a restroom on the customs declaration ground was uniquely accessible to each arriving passengers and people processing export paperwork.
According to police, the scheme labored like a lifeless drop. One suspect arriving on a flight from Hong Kong would carry the gold into the shared rest room and stash it. A second suspect — who had entered the customs space underneath the guise of submitting a preliminary export software — would then enter the identical restroom, retrieve the gold, and stroll out into the nation with out ever declaring the contraband.
Osaka police are persevering with their investigation, suspecting the three males repeatedly utilized the airport bathroom loophole to run an ongoing smuggling operation.