The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) forwarded the recent gold smuggling case to Paro District Court on September 14.
Five people have been charged in the case including the two men arrested by the customs officials at the Paro airport on August 27. The two were caught with 11.045 kilograms of gold worth over Nu 33 m concealed in their waist belt as they flew in from Bangkok, Thailand in Bhutan Airlines.
The other three suspects, all men, were arrested later after the two arrested from the airport revealed their names during police interrogation. Of the three, one is a technician with Bhutan Airlines.
The technician is said to have helped the accused carry a huge amount of US dollar on to the plane for which he was paid Nu 8,000 by the accused. Airline passengers are not allowed to carry more than US$10,000.
The OAG has charged the technician with official misconduct, while one of the two arrested from the airport is charged with smuggling of gold. The other faces charges of aiding and abetting. The remaining two suspects are charged with solicitation of the crime of gold smuggling.
All five accused are out on bail at the moment. If convicted, they will face value-based sentencing
