The Investigation Service of Georgia’s Finance Ministry on Thursday said its professionals and officers of the Customs Department of the country’s Revenue Service had identified two facts of a “particularly large amount” of undeclared gold items being brought across state borders “in violation of customs procedures”.
The Service said the officers had seized ₾119,138 ($42,064) in undeclared gold items, weighing 880.57 grams in total, on the Sadakhlo border crossing point on the country's southern border with Armenia and the Sarpi border crossing checkpoint with Turkey in the south-west of the country.
It also added criminal prosecution had been launched against two individuals involved in the cases, with one of them arrested.
The crime is punishable by five to seven years in prison.