KATHMANDU, Oct 10: Police have arrested three Chinese nationals and seized 21.75 kilograms of gold from a house in Budhanilkantha, where a gold-melting operation was allegedly being run, raising suspicions that a new Chinese smuggling group has established a foothold in Kathmandu.
The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office (KVCIO) had been monitoring the group for about a week after receiving a tip-off. On Thursday morning, police intercepted a vehicle leaving a house in Chapali Height at around 6 am and recovered two kilograms of gold from its trunk.
A subsequent search of the house uncovered gold in different forms, including molten gold and gold already melted and moulded into biscuit-shaped bars. Police also found equipment used to melt gold and mould it into bars.
SSP Santosh Khadka, chief of the KVCIO, said the total seizure from the vehicle and the house amounted to 21.75 kilograms. The source of the gold remains unclear.
House rented for four months
Police investigations into the suspects’ travel records suggest that the operation was planned after one of them visited Nepal earlier this year.
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According to police, Chinese national Su Kan rented the house on July 24 at a monthly rent of Rs 330,000, paying Rs 1.32 million in advance for four months. He returned to China on August 15, according to the records cited in the investigation.
Su allegedly handed the house keys to Zhang Ji-Li in China, who then passed them to Han Fei and Jo Longqing before sending them to Nepal. Both were arrested on Thursday.
Police records show that Jo Longqing and Fei arrived in Nepal on September 27 with the house keys and rented a vehicle until October 11. Another suspect, Wangzhen, arrived in Kathmandu on October 1.
Police suspect that Fei initially visited Nepal with his wife to assess the local market and the possibility of smuggling gold. An officer involved in the investigation said Fei had operated a gold shop in China but turned to smuggling after his business suffered losses.
SSP Khadka said the arrested suspects had not been cooperating with investigators. Police suspect that they may have been hired to handle the gold locally, while other individuals brought it into Nepal and were supposed to collect it at the airport.
Investigators have yet to establish where the gold was to be delivered. Although the suspects reportedly said they planned to take it to Thamel, police have not been able to identify the hotel where they claimed they would deliver it.
The suspects’ passports indicate that they had not travelled to Nepal before. Khadka said investigators were examining whether they had links to the Chinese gang implicated in earlier gold-smuggling cases involving electronic cigarettes and brake shoes.
The seized gold has been handed over to the customs office.
Accused in 3.7-tonne smuggling case still at large
The latest arrests have revived concerns about Chinese networks using Kathmandu as a base for gold smuggling. In 2023, investigators uncovered smuggling operations involving gold concealed in brake shoes and electronic cigarettes, commonly known as vapes.
Investigations found that Chinese nationals involved in the earlier network had obtained Nepali citizenship and established links with senior political figures, including former Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun and former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police initially found that 363 kilograms of gold had been smuggled. A second phase of the investigation put the total volume linked to the same group at 3.7 tonnes.
Nine Chinese nationals were arrested in the case and remanded in custody pending trial. However, all nine escaped from prison on September 9 last year and remain at large. Their passports are still in the custody of prison authorities.
The gold seized in the earlier case had been brought from Hong Kong. As the source of the gold seized in Budhanilkantha remains unknown, investigators have yet to establish whether the newly identified group is connected to the previous network.
Police said the investigation was continuing into the new group and others who may have helped it operate in Nepal.
Police have seized 21.75 kilograms of gold and arrested three Chinese nationals from a house in Budhanilkantha, where investigators suspect a new gold-smuggling network was operating.
