Flight attendant's gold smuggling plan

Casting 80 gold bars into 4 blocks weighing more than 3 kg, Ngoc Anh hired an airplane repairman to hide them under the seats. Before being arrested, the flight attendant had colluded to smuggle 20 gold bars to South Korea.

On August 16, Hanoi Police said that the investigation agency had initially clarified the act of gold smuggling through Noi Bai International Airport by a group of suspects who were airline employees.

Evidence of the case. Photo: Provided by the police.

According to Colonel Nguyen Van Vien - Chief of Staff of Hanoi Police, among the three people arrested were Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh (34 years old, flight attendant of Vietnam Airlines) and Pham Duy Nhuan (36 years old, aircraft repairman of VAECO Company Limited).

Investigation results determined that Ngoc Anh and her husband Nguyen Ngoc Sang (30 years old, living in Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi) were the masterminds in the case.

Three weeks ago, Ngoc Anh spent 2.8 billion VND to buy 80 gold bars and then hired someone to make them into 4 gold bars weighing more than 3 kg. Sang bought magnets to wrap around the gold bars to attach to airplane seats.

Knowing that Nhuan could enter and exit the parking lot without being checked, Ngoc Anh hired him to bring the gold onto the plane to hide. That evening, the flight attendant and her husband completed the exit procedures and texted Nhuan their seat number.

Working with the police, the aircraft repairman confessed to dropping the gold bag over the iron fence into the parking area. He then went around the security control area, took the gold, and hid it on the plane.

As the plane was about to take off, Hanoi police coordinated with the authorities to catch the smuggling group red-handed and seize the related evidence. Ngoc Anh and her accomplices confessed that in early July they had colluded to successfully smuggle 20 gold bars to South Korea to sell for profit. Each time Nhuan helped the female flight attendant smuggle, he was paid 2 million VND.

This is not the first time airline staff have smuggled gold from Noi Bai to South Korea. In April 2016, the captain of flight VN426, Nguyen Van Dung, and flight attendant Nguyen Tuan Phong were arrested by customs at Gimhae Airport (Busan) for hiding gold under the soles of their shoes but not declaring it to customs.

Using a metal detector, authorities discovered that the captain hid 4 kg of gold bars under the sole of his shoe, and the male flight attendant hid 2 kg.

On May 29, the Busan City Court brought two airline employees who illegally transported gold to trial. They were given suspended sentences and then handed over to the Vietnamese police investigation agency.

According to ZIng.vn