US soldiers in Iraq have seized a truck loaded with what was believed to be 2,000 gold bars worth as much as $500m.
The gold was discovered at a routine search at a checkpoint near the Syrian border, the US military said.
"The bars may have a total worth of $500m dollars, depending on carat weight and purity," the US Central Command said.
Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment stopped the Mercedes truck and its two occupants Thursday in Al Qaim.
They found 40-pound bars, measuring four inches by five inches by 10 inches.
"The occupants told the soldiers that they had been paid a total of 350,000 Dinars ($350) to pick up the truck in Baghdad and drive it to an unnamed individual in Al Qaim," US Central Command said in a statement.
The occupants said they had been told the bars were bronze but authorities believe the bars were made of gold and are having them tested.
Al Qaim, a town on the Euphrates across the border from Syria, has been a key transit point for fleeing members of the deposted regime of Saddam Hussein.
Its kinda easy to distinguish gold from bronze...Sounds a little fishy....
Anything you say.....
