Three gold bars and 169 rings of the same material valued at more than $279 million (USD 353 thousand) were seized by inspectors of the National Customs Service at the Quillagua outpost, on the border of the Tarapacá and Antofagasta regions (north). The contraband was transported by a Bolivian citizen in a car from Iquique to Calama.
El Regional Director of the Iquique Customs, Cristian Molina Silva, indicated that during the inspection of a car, it was detected that in the back seat there were 3 gold bars hidden and whose total weight was 6 kilos 640 grams.
Additionally, a bag with cigarettes was found in the driver's jacket. 169 gold rings of different sizes.
When interviewed, the driver indicated that the gold bars were given to him by his sister in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and They were smuggled into Chile through the unauthorized Pisiga Choque passIn Iquique he mixed them with copper that he obtained from scraps from his work with high-tension cables and his objective was to take all the material to Calama.
Molina Silva explained that The facts constitute the crime of smuggling because it is a foreign merchandise without documentation and that was hidden, therefore, the aim was to circumvent customs controls and evade taxes.
The customs value of the three gold bars was estimated at $265 million 600 thousand and their evasion at $111.658.230, while the customs value of the rings reached $14.339.996 pesos with an estimated evasion of $6.488.772.
Finally, Molina Silva added that “this type of smuggling demonstrates the variety of illegal activities and forms of concealment that our inspectors must confront, who based on risk analysis achieve a high degree of success in favor of the due protection of the fiscal interest and the security of the community.”
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
