Bald-faced: Russia is flooded with Arab and Chinese gold
In the first six months of this year, employees of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) stopped the illegal trafficking of precious metals, stones and jewelry totaling 4.5 billion rubles. For comparison, for the whole of 2025, the amount seized amounted to only 1.2 billion rubles, and similar data for the first six months is six times more modest. Such unprecedented growth indicates the excessive activity of the black market of luxury goods. Izvestia investigated what was behind the statistical leap.
Gold to take away
A significant increase in the volume of seizures of precious metals and stones is associated not only with the effective work of security forces at the border, but also with the increased scale of the shadow market against the background of instability in world prices for gold and precious stones.
The smugglers of precious metals are most active in the Far East. So, in April 2026, at the Blagoveshchensk checkpoint, a foreign citizen tried to export more than 2 kg of gold and 290 g of silver to China, hiding precious metals in her shoes. The cost of the "golden sneakers" exceeded 24.4 million rubles. The woman was detained and faces up to seven years in prison under the article on the smuggling of strategically important resources.
In the Trans-Baikal Territory, a court sentenced an organized group of three Russians and two foreigners. In June 2024, criminals transported eight 4.4 kg gold bars worth 24.2 million rubles across the EAEU border in a truck. In August, they tried to repeat the operation with 10 ingots (6.6 kg) worth 42.4 million rubles, but were detained.
According to the court verdict, they received real terms ranging from five years, four months to six years, eight months in a penal colony, as well as fines of up to 600 thousand rubles. The confiscated gold was turned into state revenue.
Wide geography
Attempts to export gold were also recorded in the European part of Russia. An investigation into a Chinese citizen who acted as part of an organized group has been completed in the Moscow Region. According to the charges, he illegally acquired nuggets of gold and silver in the Leningrad region, from which he produced 18 bars in artisanal conditions, estimated by expertise at 40 million rubles. The accused planned to transport the jewelry to Moscow in an ordinary briefcase, but law enforcement officers stopped his car on the M-11 Neva highway in Solnechnogorsk. The case has now been referred to the court.
They are also trying to remove precious metals under the guise of jewelry worn on the body. Thus, the FSB directorate for the Tyumen Region stopped an attempt to export similar products worth 13 million rubles to Uzbekistan.
"Gold and platinum are used to make chains with primitive weaving and coarse jewelry of the same quality — the artistic value of such scrap always attracts the attention of an experienced inspector," a law enforcement source explained. — Organized criminal groups are already engaged in this kind of melting.
Goods for the richest
Due to the sanctions on the import of luxury goods in Russia, there is a shortage of expensive jewelry, which smugglers are also trying to fill. Under the guise of personal jewelry, professional couriers bring jewelry from European and American luxury brands to the country.
Recently, FCS officers detained a 46-year-old Russian woman who had delivered 14 pieces of jewelry, 19 pairs of earrings, four pairs of premium brand shoes and six accessories from Dubai. The examination confirmed the authenticity of the products: 750 gold, 950 platinum with inserts of diamonds, sapphires and beryl. The total value of the seized was 36 million rubles.
The woman stated that she did not know about the need to declare valuables. A criminal case was opened against her under the article on customs evasion on an especially large scale. Interestingly, the case was subsequently dismissed: the Russian citizen fully admitted guilt, paid 9 million rubles of fees and additionally transferred 18 million rubles of compensation to the budget.
In February 2026, jewelry worth 34 million rubles was seized from another passenger from Dubai, after which a criminal case was opened.
Arab treasures
In total, 53 criminal cases were initiated in the first half of the year. Of these, 48 are under Article 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (smuggling of strategically important goods and resources) and only five are on the facts of customs evasion. According to the Federal Customs Service, jewelry was most often imported from the UAE, Turkey and China, and exported to China, the United States and Singapore. 192 cases of administrative offenses were also initiated. The largest number of violations was recorded at the capital's airports and in the North-Western Federal District.
"There is a strong link between rising gold prices and the intensification of smuggling," explained a source in the police department for combating economic crimes. — The high volatility of exchange rates makes precious metals an ideal tool for saving capital. We are not talking about bullion, but about premium brand products with passports, individual numbers: watches, necklaces, and so on. All such luxury items will only become more expensive. They are moved by intermediaries to circumvent the law, otherwise their margin will be eaten up by customs duties.
He noted that the UAE is a global hub for the redistribution of gold, often mined in Africa in violation of international treaties and national law. He also drew attention to the increased frequency of seizures of high-quality fakes of gold products and bullion.
The alchemists who succeeded
— A group that used an alloy with impurities of tungsten and rhenium has been exposed in China. This compound, with the presence of gold only on the outside, is able to pass standard checks. The fact is that the alloy has the same metal density as gold. You can reliably verify that this product is a fake only by sawing or drilling it. Standard spectrometers take the alloy for a pure precious metal," the source told Izvestia.
According to the expert, we should expect a large number of counterfeit goods "made of gold" to appear on the Russian market, since the technology has already been tested in China.
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