Smugglers melted and spray painted $10 million in gold to look like machine parts
Smugglers melted and spray painted $10 million in gold to look like machine parts
The suspicious plane cargo was flagged by the Hong Kong authorities.
![Smugglers melted and spray painted $10 million in gold to look like machine parts](https://real.lemmy.fan/pictrs/image/dd38dff8-525b-4104-b2ea-6f6ef6debe6c.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Go to all that work and then get found out by using shitty spray paint.
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Now that's good. I wonder how they got caught.
...technicians removed the motor casing and found a rotor “wrapped in a cord wheel which was tied to tape.”
“It was not similar to a normal motor,” he added.
After examining the rotor, authorities found traces of glue at both ends of the machinery part. Using a hammer, they then tapped the part and “noticed unevenness,” indicating the metal was far more malleable than it should have been. Scraping away at an outer layer of silver paint showed flecks of gold.
121 0 ReplyYeah somebody snitched. Airport security isn't going to disassemble an air compressor and start hitting things with a hammer.
64 0 ReplyYou haven't seen how they've inspected my guitar and a shitload of imported things over the years lol
18 0 ReplyEh, your fault for having a guitar made of gold
21 0 Reply
Hong Kong, it's outgoing cargo. I have no idea.
11 0 ReplyIt probably looked odd on the x-ray scan so they looked closer, it was probably more the tied on parts than the bad paint that drew initial attention
10 0 Reply
You'd think the first clue would be that gold is 2.5x heavier by volume than steel and is 7x heavier than aluminum.
34 0 ReplyI did the math lower down:
Probably don't notice when you're using a forklift.
My math says that's 133 kg of gold. Not all that much. If you replaced the metal volume, the additional weight is approx 81 kg.
25 0 Reply.
1 0 ReplyA kg of gold is worth ~75,500.
You're saying a kg is worth $60 million.
10 0 Reply
2.5x heavier by volume than steel
reading that hurted my brain... just say denser 😣
14 0 Reply
It would've been less suspicious to just have them laying around.
11 0 Reply