A Chinese driver was detained in Transbaikalia with 47 million rubles worth of gold.

A Chinese citizen who was trying to export gold was detained in Transbaikalia. The total value of the precious metal exceeded 47 million rubles. This is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the case file submitted to the court.

So, it turned out that in July 2023 in Zabaikalsk, a tourist bus driver, a citizen of China, was approached by his compatriot, previously unknown to him. He offered to transport 15 ingots of precious metals in the bus cache to China. The remuneration was supposed to be about 23 thousand rubles.

During the passage of customs control at the border, the ingots were found. The examination found that the value of pure gold bullion amounted to more than 47 million rubles, and silver — more than 103 thousand rubles.

A criminal case was opened against the driver under the article on the illegal movement of strategically important goods on a large scale across the customs border of the EAEU. The court sentenced the perpetrator to a fine of 850 thousand rubles. The ingots will be stored at Chita customs until the investigation into the unknown person who handed them over to the driver is completed, writes ChitaMedia news agency.

Earlier it was reported that in the first half of 2025, the smuggling of precious and semi-precious stones, gold, precious metals and jewelry made from them was stopped for 753.4 million rubles. The customs authorities have initiated 63 criminal cases on the facts of their illegal movement, and 36 for the same period last year.

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