[GLOBAL ECONOMIC TIMES]  It has been confirmed that the number of gold smuggling cases and confiscated goods detected by Japanese customs in the first half of this year have increased significantly.

On the 26th, major Japanese media outlets cited the Ministry of Finance's announcement and reported, "The number of gold smuggling cases detected by customs between January and June of this year was 228, an 81% increase from the same period last year, and the amount seized was 937 kg, 8.1 times more."

In relation to this, the Yomiuri Shimbun analyzed that “the background is the high price of gold and the increase in the number of people entering and leaving the country.”

It was revealed that 812kg, or about 87% of the seized gold, was caught while attempting to smuggle in Hong Kong. The most common form of smuggling was carried onboard by airplane passengers, with 209 cases. The amount seized amounted to 272 kg, which was 29% of the total gold smuggling. In addition, 69% were caught sneaking in gold via air cargo.

Yomiuri pointed out that some traders are smuggling gold to avoid paying taxes, saying, “In Hong Kong and elsewhere, there is no consumption tax when buying or selling gold, so if importers want to bring it to Japan, they have to report it to customs and pay consumption tax.”

The number of gold smuggling cases detected by Japanese customs began to increase in 2014, when the consumption tax rate was increased from 5% to 8%. Afterwards, the number of gold smuggling cases decreased from the second half of 2018, but it was analyzed that smuggling increased as the demand for ‘safe assets’ increased after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.