TOKYO -- Smugglers allegedly pocketed about 3.2 billion yen ($28.8 million) by selling untaxed gold brought into Japan via South Korea by couriers recruited online, marking the latest in a rash of similar cases with links to East Asia, sources close to the investigation said.
Police and customs officials in Japan have since February arrested 17 South Koreans and Japanese in connection with what investigators describe as a sophisticated smuggling operation with bases in Hong Kong, South Korea and the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka.
