On 8 August, a truck travelling in the outbound direction arrived at the Luhamaa customs office. During an inspection, customs officers discovered 157 gold coins hidden inside the backrest of the truck, with a total weight of approximately 4.8 kilograms. Criminal proceedings were initiated on suspicion of an attempted sanctions violation, and efforts were also made to establish the actual owner of the coins.
As the owner of the coins could not be established during the proceedings, the court authorised their confiscation in favour of the state. The approximate value of the gold coins at the time of border crossing was €390,000.
The coins will be put up for auction in small batches. The deadline for bidding on the first eight gold coins is 14 October.
The gold coins listed for auction can be viewed here.
