A pilot and a flight attendant of the national flagged carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) were arrested for smuggling totally 6 kilograms of gold when entering Gimhae International Airport in Pusan City in South Korea on Tuesday, South Korean media reported on Tuesday.
According to South Korean media, the customs of the airport on Friday detected the Vietnamese captain and flight attendant hiding four and two gold bars, weighing 1 kilogram each, in their shoes, respectively, without declaration when they went through the metal detector system of the airport after their flight from Hanoi arrived at the airport.
The two employees of VNA claimed they were paid US$250 per kilogram of gold successfully transported to South Korea, and though taking the same flight, they did not know the other were smuggling gold, according to South Korean media.
They were handed over to the police, and were in custody for further investigation, according to South Korean media.
The South Korean customs said that there might be many other gold smuggling cases. In 2013, the airport customs uncovered only one case, but they discovered four in March this year alone, all of which happened at Gimhae International Airport.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), two employees of VNA, captain Nguyen Van Dung, 35, and flight attendant Nguyen Tuan Phong were arrested for carrying gold without declaration after their VN426 flight, from Hanoi to Pusan, landed at the international airport on Friday last week.
Korean authorities have not formally notified the case to Vietnamese counterpart, said CAAV.
Đăng ký: VietNam News