Two Men Arrested for Smuggling One Ton of Gold into Japan

Two men from Chiba Prefecture were arrested on suspicion of smuggling about one ton of gold from South Korea into Japan, evading consumption tax and profiting from the sales, according to police. This ton of gold is worth about 10.8 billion yen ($69 million).

Fifty-three year old Jin Tateno and 45 year old company executive, Jun Sakurai, are accused of making about 200 trips to South Korea between 2023 and 2024 to smuggle the gold, which was sold in Japan in about 150 transactions, according to police. The two were arrested last Wednesday. Smuggling the gold into Japan, evaded consumption tax totalling 4.68 million yen. They were caught when a pouch of gold was turned into Lost and Found at the airport, and Tateno checked at Lost and Found, saying he lost his gold.

Tateno claims he had no intention of smuggling, while Sakurai said the Tateno asked him to smuggle. I wonder what the penalty is for this crime.

Gold smuggling cases have greatly increased in recent years as demand for safe-haven assets grows amid global uncertainties.