Authorities go after gold smugglers as tax hike prompts surge in cases

After a consumption tax increase in 2014 led to a recent surge in gold smuggling cases in Japan, customs officials are stepping up their hunt for smugglers.But with gold prices remaining at high levels, reversing the trend appears no easy job for the authorities, who are fighting to outwit smugglers in what amounts to a game of cat and mouse.The 2014 tax increase has served as an incentive for those looking to make easy money by smuggling gold into the country and evading the tax that would otherwise be imposed.In late May, 206 kilograms of gold bars, estimated to be worth around 1 billion …READ FULL ARTICLE