By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Oct. 10: A police investigation under Operation Bravo Gulf has uncovered an organised gold smuggling and processing racket operated by Chinese nationals from a rented house in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu, with a suspected kingpin directing the operation from Guangzhou, China.
The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office on Friday made public three Chinese nationals arrested with 21.75 kg of gold from Upper Bhangal, Budhanilkantha Municipality-2, on Thursday evening. Police also displayed the seized gold, cash, a vehicle, a gold-melting machine, processing equipment and documents during a press conference.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Chief of Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, Teku, Santosh Khadka, the operation exposed a well-organised network that used a rented house in Kathmandu as a gold-processing unit and relied on the WeChat messaging application to coordinate the illicit trade from China.
The investigation, conducted under Operation Bravo Gulf, revealed that the alleged kingpin, identified as Zhen Jia, was based in Guangzhou and issued instructions on where, how and to whom the gold should be delivered in Nepal. Customers and delivery locations were also reportedly coordinated through WeChat, informed SSP Khadka.
The three arrested Chinese nationals are Han Fei, Zhou Longqin and Wang Jianzheng, he said.
According to details shared by police at the press conference, the gang had rented a house in Budhanilkantha for Rs. 330,000 a month to melt and process smuggled gold. The house was allegedly used to convert gold brought in a semi-processed, malleable state into its finished form before delivering it to designated recipients.
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