“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth”, said Gautama Buddha. He may as well have been referring to the incident that occurred at Huanggang Customs several weeks ago when a passenger coming to Shenzhen from Hong Kong was caught transporting undeclared gold decorated statues through the border. Buddha statues.
It was later discovered that the statues date back to the 15th and 17th centuries and are thus considered valuable relics, reports Shenzhen Daily. The man transporting the spiritual treasures claimed to have bought them at an auction in the United States for RMB10 million. Apparently, he then wrapped the four statues, packed them in a suitcase and loaded the goods into a private van – in which he tried to cross the border without declaring the items.
The case has now been handed over to the anti-smuggling department for further investigation.
While the fate of the statues and their avid collector is still in the realm of the unknown, there are several things that customs officials want to make clear: travelers need to declare relics when going through border checkpoints and the antiquities should also be accompanied by original trade certificates and transaction records (if purchased at an auction).
So, if at any time in your life you feel an uncontrollable desire to pull an Indiana Jones – make sure you have all your papers in place.
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