The Miami Herald (click here) is reporting Venezuelans were arrested at Broward Airport for smuggling $5 million of gold.

September 3, 2019
By Cerina Pons and Mayela Armas

Caracus - Gold reserves held by Venezuela’s central bank (click here) fell by $1 billion in the first half of 2019, official data released this week showed, amid opposition accusations that the government is selling the precious metal abroad to raise revenue in the face of U.S. sanctions.

The value of the gold bars in central bank vaults fell to $4.62 billion, down 18.5% from $5.67 billion dollars at the end of 2018 - the lowest in 75 years, according to bank data.

Opposition leaders have for months accused the government of President Nicolas Maduro of withdrawing gold to sell abroad as U.S. financial sanctions have crippled oil exports and blocked it from borrowing abroad.

The drop corresponds to a decline of 26.36 tons of gold from reserves, leaving the bank with about 102.40 tons. About one-third of that is held by the Bank of England....