this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
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Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm'

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Smugglers melted and spray painted $10 million in gold to look like machine parts (www.popsci.com)
submitted 8 months ago by oleorun to c/weirdnews
44 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Go to all that work and then get found out by using shitty spray paint.

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[–] [email protected] 124 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

Now that's good. I wonder how they got caught.

...technicians removed the motor casing and found a rotor “wrapped in a cord wheel which was tied to tape.”

“It was not similar to a normal motor,” he added.

After examining the rotor, authorities found traces of glue at both ends of the machinery part. Using a hammer, they then tapped the part and “noticed unevenness,” indicating the metal was far more malleable than it should have been. Scraping away at an outer layer of silver paint showed flecks of gold.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 8 months ago (2 children)

You'd think the first clue would be that gold is 2.5x heavier by volume than steel and is 7x heavier than aluminum.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

2.5x heavier by volume than steel

reading that hurted my brain... just say denser 😣

[–] [email protected] 25 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I did the math lower down:

Probably don't notice when you're using a forklift.

My math says that's 133 kg of gold. Not all that much. If you replaced the metal volume, the additional weight is approx 81 kg.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Yeah somebody snitched. Airport security isn't going to disassemble an air compressor and start hitting things with a hammer.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

It probably looked odd on the x-ray scan so they looked closer, it was probably more the tied on parts than the bad paint that drew initial attention

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You haven't seen how they've inspected my guitar and a shitload of imported things over the years lol

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago

Eh, your fault for having a guitar made of gold

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

Hong Kong, it's outgoing cargo. I have no idea.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago

It would've been less suspicious to just have them laying around.