TIA gold haul: Chinese national arrested

KATHMANDU: Police have arrested a Chinese national for an investigation into the smuggling of nearly a quintal of gold via Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

Chinese national Je Yung Lin was arrested from TIA on Thursday afternoon while he was waiting to board a flight to China.

A team from the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) conducted a raid on a taxi that was transporting a cargo of scooter brake shoes from the TIA Customs on Wednesday. The taxi was intercepted on Ring Road just outside the TIA Customs.

The gold was smuggled into Kathmandu in eight boxes of brake shoes, originating from Hong Kong and transported via a Cathay Pacific flight at 10 pm on Tuesday.

With this, the number of people arrested for investigation into the case has reached seven. Police earlier arrested taxi driver Ashok Rana Magar, customs agent Rajendra Kumar Rai, Ready promoter of importer company Ready Trade Pvt Ltd, and Harka Raj Rai, Thukpin Tshering and Ram Kumar Bhujel.