Border Patrol finds $67,830 of gold in package valued at $125

March 15 (UPI) -- Border agents at the Port of Cincinnati discovered a package filled with $67,830 worth of gold in a shipment heading for Hong Kong with a declared value of $125, officials said Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers selected a package for an X-ray examination on March 9. The package originated from San Francisco and was addressed to Kowloon, Hong Kong in China. It was declared to contain clothing valued at $125.

"After noting density anomalies during the X-ray screening, officers opened the shipment and found four gold bars and a box of loose gold concealed within articles of clothing," the agency said in a statement.

"The [Laboratories and Scientific Services] confirmed the gold was approximately 98% pure, leading import specialists from the Center for Excellence and Expertise to assess the value of the shipment at $67,830."

The agency said filing misleading export information can lead to civil or criminal penalties and prosecution.

"CBP aspires to be the most innovative and trusted law enforcement agency in the world," LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, director of field operations for the Chicago Field Office, said in a statement.

"As the volume and demand for U.S. exports increase, our officers and specialists safeguard our economy by maintaining a strong and unified presence at our borders and leverage their experience and technology to detect shipments contrary to law."

In 2018, a janitor at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea found $325 million worth of gold bars in a garbage bin. The bars were wrapped in newspaper.

Authorities in Switzerland said in 2020 someone left behind $190,000 worth of gold bars on a train. Officials said the bars appeared to be left after a Swiss Federal Railways train that arrived in the city from St. Gallen to Lucerne.