A WOMAN was detained on Zhongying Street, a street in Yantian District that serves as a border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 15 kilograms of gold bars into Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported over the weekend.

    The gold bars were valued at about 4.5 million yuan (US$674,100).

    Jin Qiaoling, a female border police officer of the inspection team on Zhongying Street, noticed the woman in a black T-shirt was acting nervously among visitors at the inspection hall Wednesday afternoon.

    Out of suspicion, Jin took the woman to a separate room for further check and found something was wrapping around her waist. After detaching the objects from the woman’s body, Jin found the objects were gold bars.

    The woman eventually admitted that she attempted to smuggle the gold by attaching them to her waist to shun the inspection. According to her, it was her first time to carry gold from Hong Kong into Shenzhen via Zhongying Street and she could earn 67 yuan for carrying each gold bar, but she did not know whom she was going to meet once she had crossed the street and passed mainland border control successfully.

    According to an officer at the inspection department, individual visitors must declare to the customs for carrying gold over 50 grams. The woman was suspected of smuggling for not declaring her hidden 15 kilograms of gold. (Zhang Qian)