Finance Ministry investigators arrest one, seize $201,153 in undeclared gold items

The Investigation Service of Georgia’s Ministry of Finance on Thursday said its professionals had arrested one individual for attempting to smuggle a “particularly large” quantity of gold items into the country.

The Service said its investigation had found the offender attempted to illegally carry 5 kg of gold items valued ₾535,000 ($201,153) across the Sarpi border crossing checkpoint with Turkey in the south-west of the country.

Concealed in a compartment of a bus driven by the accused, the objects were confiscated from the individual on discovery.

The body also said the investigation was ongoing to discover other compartments in the bus to recover additional items.

The crime is punishable by imprisonment for between five to seven years.