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They probably got tipped off by something else that triggered a deeper investigation. It is not economical to do x-ray spectrometry on every single machine part

They probably got tipped off by something else that triggered a deeper investigation. It is not economical to do x-ray spectrometry on every single machine part leaving HK.

conductr 2y ago
Or they noticed the weight of it was unusually high for what it was supposed to be
- petre 2y ago
  Also the amateurish paint job.
- bombcar 2y ago
  I wonder if gold will alloy with something that would reduce it down to "normal density".
  - flyinghamster 2y ago
    When Nazi Germany occupied Denmark during World War II, Niels Bohr and George de Hevesy dissolved Max von Laue's and James Franck's Nobel Prize medals (entrusted to Bohr for safekeeping) in aqua regia. After the war, Hevesy found the flask of dissolved gold undisturbed, and precipitated the gold for the medals to be recast. https://www.aip.org/history-programs/news/invisible-prize https://www.aip.org/history-programs/news/invisible-prize
  - Cthulhu_ 2y ago
    Sure, but would it still be enough to make converting, transporting, and converting it back to purer gold economically viable? I mean by that logic you could also have a couple of mules wear expensive jewelry or watches or the like; if it's convincing enough that someone wears a $500K watch as personal effect then they wouldn't be flagged for inspection. In theory anyway, I don't know how these things work in reality. I wonder if someone's financial status is pulled up at passport control. I don't believe it's uncommon for rich people to travel coach though.
    - thaumasiotes 2y ago
      Can you tell the difference between a $500K watch and a $50 knockoff? You don't need to be rich to wear an imitation watch.
      - bombcar 2y ago
        The problem is a $500k watch is only like $20k in gold, even if it were solid gold. You'd have to wear a lot of watches.
nailer 2y ago
This is what happened with a similar operation where cocaine was disguised in rubber ground mats for tents.
smallmancontrov 2y ago
It's not economical to have a person walk up to every package with an XRF gun, but it feels like it ought to be possible to do this in bulk. Maybe use high intensity XRay to quickly capture an overview image / tomograph of each container and then follow up with lower intensity on areas of interest to tease out the spectrum. Is the best way to capture X-Ray spectra still to choke down intensity to the single-photon regime, watch the size of each scintillation event in the detector, and assemble a histogram? In any case, the best way can't be worse than the old way, and the old way is probably viable as a second automatic step in a two step process. Come to think of it, airport luggage inspection happens at high throughput. Surely they could scale that up from suitcases to containers? Of course, "physically possible" doesn't mean "politically possible given the budgets involved" which in turn doesn't mean "has actually happened." I'm mostly fishing here to see if anybody knows things about high-throughput X-Ray screening.
defrost 2y ago
There are several paths to discovery here, none perfect, but is a swiss cheese hole method for tripping suspicion. \0 Social tipoff - did somebody snitch in advance? \1 Behavioural - is the sender a regular dealer in machine goods | compressors | etc .. a financial accountant suddenly transfering compressors is a behavoural spike. \2 Consistencey WRT thousands of items per day ... does this load weigh the same as other loads on a pallet with the same Bill of Loading? \3 Actual Tomography - it's easier than many might think to calculate a rough volume at speed via either X-Ray and|or paired oblique laser scans .. combine that with conveyer weight sensor and you have a density ... see \2. All these things raise flags .. depending on the number and types of flags per hour, things may or may not get a closer look.

They probably got tipped off by something else that triggered a deeper investigation. It is not economical to do x-ray spectrometry on every single machine part leaving HK.

conductr 2y ago

Or they noticed the weight of it was unusually high for what it was supposed to be

petre 2y ago
Also the amateurish paint job.
bombcar 2y ago
I wonder if gold will alloy with something that would reduce it down to "normal density".
- flyinghamster 2y ago
  When Nazi Germany occupied Denmark during World War II, Niels Bohr and George de Hevesy dissolved Max von Laue's and James Franck's Nobel Prize medals (entrusted to Bohr for safekeeping) in aqua regia. After the war, Hevesy found the flask of dissolved gold undisturbed, and precipitated the gold for the medals to be recast. https://www.aip.org/history-programs/news/invisible-prize https://www.aip.org/history-programs/news/invisible-prize
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  Sure, but would it still be enough to make converting, transporting, and converting it back to purer gold economically viable? I mean by that logic you could also have a couple of mules wear expensive jewelry or watches or the like; if it's convincing enough that someone wears a $500K watch as personal effect then they wouldn't be flagged for inspection. In theory anyway, I don't know how these things work in reality. I wonder if someone's financial status is pulled up at passport control. I don't believe it's uncommon for rich people to travel coach though.
  - thaumasiotes 2y ago
    Can you tell the difference between a $500K watch and a $50 knockoff? You don't need to be rich to wear an imitation watch.
    - bombcar 2y ago
      The problem is a $500k watch is only like $20k in gold, even if it were solid gold. You'd have to wear a lot of watches.

nailer 2y ago

This is what happened with a similar operation where cocaine was disguised in rubber ground mats for tents.

smallmancontrov 2y ago

It's not economical to have a person walk up to every package with an XRF gun, but it feels like it ought to be possible to do this in bulk. Maybe use high intensity XRay to quickly capture an overview image / tomograph of each container and then follow up with lower intensity on areas of interest to tease out the spectrum. Is the best way to capture X-Ray spectra still to choke down intensity to the single-photon regime, watch the size of each scintillation event in the detector, and assemble a histogram? In any case, the best way can't be worse than the old way, and the old way is probably viable as a second automatic step in a two step process. Come to think of it, airport luggage inspection happens at high throughput. Surely they could scale that up from suitcases to containers? Of course, "physically possible" doesn't mean "politically possible given the budgets involved" which in turn doesn't mean "has actually happened." I'm mostly fishing here to see if anybody knows things about high-throughput X-Ray screening.

defrost 2y ago

There are several paths to discovery here, none perfect, but is a swiss cheese hole method for tripping suspicion. \0 Social tipoff - did somebody snitch in advance? \1 Behavioural - is the sender a regular dealer in machine goods | compressors | etc .. a financial accountant suddenly transfering compressors is a behavoural spike. \2 Consistencey WRT thousands of items per day ... does this load weigh the same as other loads on a pallet with the same Bill of Loading? \3 Actual Tomography - it's easier than many might think to calculate a rough volume at speed via either X-Ray and|or paired oblique laser scans .. combine that with conveyer weight sensor and you have a density ... see \2. All these things raise flags .. depending on the number and types of flags per hour, things may or may not get a closer look.