Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office has confiscated more than 21 kg of gold from a house in Budhanilkantha Municipality-2, Upper Bhangal.
Police have arrested three Chinese nationals as part of ‘Operation Bravo Gulf’ based on information that gold was being smuggled into the country. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Santosh Khadka, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, said this at a press conference on Friday. According to police, those arrested are Han Fei, Zhou Longqin and Wang Xiangzhen.
According to Khadka, preliminary investigation has revealed that they were running illegal business by keeping gold processing equipment in the house they had rented.
The total weight of the gold recovered by the police was 21 kg 750.68 grams. According to the police, the gold biscuit-shaped lumps and the yellow metal in a sticky semi-finished condition were found during the test conducted by the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver and Gems and Jewelry. According to the police, the value of the recovered gold is Rs 54,
60,07,320.04 as per the market value of the incident.
According to SSP Khadka, the arrested Chinese nationals used to process the semi-finished gold in a rented house and make lumps of different sizes. The police have seized various equipment including a machine for melting, shaping, drying and cleaning the gold. Likewise, police also confiscated gold weighing scales, vehicle used in the smuggling of BYD Atto-3, Nepali and Chinese currency, passport, ATM cards of different banks, SIM cards and mobile phones.
The police said that two pieces of gold recovered from the house were found in the vehicle. According to the police, the arrested persons were stopped by a surveillance police team at around 5:55 am when they tried to take the vehicle out of the house. A police team then reached the spot and found the gold and processing materials in the presence of local people’s representatives and neighbours.
According to the preliminary investigation of the police, the main conspirator of the transaction is Zhen Jial, who lives in Guangzhou, China. According to the police, the arrested Chinese nationals used to process and transport gold under the direction of Zen.
According to the police, a Chinese national named Su Khyan had rented the house for four months paying Rs 3.30 lakh as rent per month. Investigation revealed that he had made an agreement with the landlord on July 24, 2026 and paid Rs 13,2
0,000 in advance, Khadka said.
According to the preliminary investigation of the police, Su Qyan gave the key of the house to Zhen Jial after returning to China, and Zhen gave the key to Han Fei and Zhou Longqin and sent it to Nepal.
According to the police, Han Fei and Zhou Longqin came to Nepal on September 27, 2026, while Su Khyan came to Nepal on October 1, 2026. According to the police, Su Khyun is no longer in Nepal.
According to Khadka, investigation has revealed that Han Fei had come to Nepal with his family in the past to know about the market and price of gold and then returned to China.
According to the police, Han Fei had rented a BYD Atto 3 vehicle from the vehicle rental service at the airport after coming to Nepal. According to the police, he had rented the vehicle at the rate of Rs 8,000 per day.
Police suspect that the gold kept in the vehicle might have been taken somewhere. However, investigation is underway to find out where the gold was being sent, SSP Khadka said. According to him, the arrested persons did not give clear information about where the gold was brought from, to whom it was delivered and who else was involved in the transaction.
Some parts of the gold recovered by the police were in a sticky and semi-solid state. In such a situation, it is easy to mold and hide the gold in different shapes, so the police suspect that the same method may have been adopted.
According to SSP Khadka, the gold in semi-finished condition was brought home and heated, melted and molded into different shapes through a molding machine. The police are investigating whether the gold was brought into Nepal by air, land or other means. Khadka said that investigation is also being done about the real source of gold and its market. The police have said that the investigation so far has not confirmed the involvement of Nepali nationals in the transaction.
According to the police, the vehicle used in the gold smuggling was also taken from the airport fare service.
According to SSP Khadka, preliminary investigations have revealed that the communication and transaction instructions between the arrested Chinese nationals were exchanged through the Chinese social network WeChat.
The police said they are conducting technical investigations to gather more evidence related to the gold supply chain, the network of transactions and the main conspirator. Khadka also said that assistance has been sought from the concerned parties to investigate the conversations made through WeChat.
However, the investigation is underway to find out how the gold was brought into Nepal and who else was involved in its transaction. The police said that they will make public the information once more facts are revealed from the investigation.
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