The Department of Revenue Investigation on Monday filed a case against Sher Gyalwo Ghale who was arrested last month while smuggling 7kg gold via Nepal-China border.

Ghale, a resident of Naukunda Rural Municipality-6, Rasuwa, faces two counts of charges—revenue evasion and foreign exchange misappreciation amounting to Rs71.17 million—at the Rasuwa District Court, the department said on Tuesday.

Police had arrested Ghale with the contraband gold hidden in a container carrying apples at Timure in Rasuwa on April 23.

The apples were brought from China through Rasuwgadhi-Kerung border point in a vehicle (Na 6 Kha 9068), but Ghale did not have customs clearance documents and customs duty payment receipts, according to the department.

The department has sought a six-year jail term, confiscation of the seized gold and a penalty of Rs 177.94 million for Ghale, as per the Revenue Leakage (Control and Punishment) Act and Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act .

Dirgha Raj Mainali, the department’s director general, told the Post that they could not find the person who was supposed to receive the smuggled gold.

“Ghale was just a courier. He could not tell us anything about the person who was supposed to receive the smuggled gold,” he said.

Ghale had told investigators that a Chinese man had loaded the gold in the container with the instruction that he would be informed about the destination of the gold once he had reached Kathmandu.

“He was arrested before he could reach Kathmandu,” said Mainali. Authorities have already seized more than 75kg contraband gold and arrested several people so far this fiscal year.