About £4 million ($five million) really worth of gold was seized at London’s Heathrow Airport using Border Force officials as a part of worldwide research right into a suspected South American pills cartel.
The gold, which weighed 104 kilograms (229 kilos), turned into on its manner to Switzerland from the Cayman Islands whilst it changed into seized on June 1. No arrests were made, police said.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) — a governmental regulation enforcement corporation — stated that the gold changed into believed to have originated in Venezuela, from wherein it become transported to the Cayman Islands on a non-public jet.
Border Force sellers at Heathrow Airport sooner or later moved in to detain the shipment whilst it arrived inside the UK, based on intelligence provided via the NCA.
“We accept as true with that this cargo becomes connected to pills cartels running out of South America,” Steve McIntyre, NCA Heathrow branch commander, said in a statement. “Working with partners overseas and in the UK, we were able to identify it and stop its onward movement quickly.
“The business version of many organized crime organizations relies upon the ability to move money across borders, to fund further investment in the crook activity.
“If we will forestall that it not most effective causes of disruption to the crook community worried and prevents them from taking advantage of crime, it also stops that re-funding.”
Nick Jariwalla, Border Force Heathrow director, added that removing large quantities of money or gold from the control of criminal networks “hits them where they experience it most, within the pocket.”
“This became a full-size seizure and demonstrates how effectively Border Force works with regulation enforcement partners, each at domestic and overseas, to fight organized crime,” he stated.
Lynne Owens, the director well-known of the NCA, praised both teams’ work and stated that it represents “further development” within the combat to stop the UK from being used as a “course for illicit finance.”
“Excellent work by our worldwide community and others supported by using Border Force,” she wrote on Twitter.
While the gold turned into a seized ultimate month, a current listening to Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in London allowed it to be officially held below the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The gold will now form part of a global cash laundering investigation led via the Cayman government, with the NCA’s help.
The NCA and Heathrow’s Border Force have formerly uncovered large hauls connected to international capsules trafficking from South America.
In 2017, a Heathrow security worker turned into charged with importing cocaine well worth up to £480,000 ($600, one hundred twenty) into the United Kingdom from South America.
The employee became sick while he traveled to the airport in his uniform and met a drugs courier from Colombia in airport lavatories. He was arrested via police, the NCA stated. There are standards, especially for jewelry manufactured in the US, but just because it is properly stamped does not mean it is real gold. Gold is not generally shiny – this is the first sign that a piece of jewelry might be plated. The best way to tell is to order a cheap acid testing kit from the internet; the kit should come with a small stone square.
The jewelry is rubbed on the stone to leave a mark, and then acids of various strengths are used to determine the gold karat. The three most popular acid strengths are 10k, 14k, and 18k. Plated gold will disappear almost immediately under an acid test, and this is the cheapest way to determine the karat of gold jewelry.
