Just saying that this is not a new problem and there are tested procedures for moving that sort of quantity of gold around the world. (The article seems to impl

Just saying that this is not a new problem and there are tested procedures for moving that sort of quantity of gold around the world. (The article seems to imply that a "new" solution was needed). For example, swapping physical metal in one location for physical metal in another location is common practice among banks and large investors. They could swap metal to various other locations around the world before shipping it back home bit by bit. The main reason large orders are split into smaller shipments is the risk (and insurance costs). The Venezuelan government may decide that it's navy can provide better insurance than a commercial insurer, in which case it might make sense to do it all in one shipment (which would be quite unusual).