Looks like employees may have gotten a little bit back!
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$350,000 Of Gold Dust Grabbed At MIA
MIAMI -- A bucket lost a Miami International Airport may have set off a few metal detectors -- it held 73 pounds of unrefined gold dust worth nearly $350,000.
Miami-Dade police are looking for the powder, which was shipped to Miami from Honduras and arrived March 5.
A police report states that American Cargo employee Jose Martelo received six buckets of gold at a terminal gate, then made several rounds to different gates to pick up other items.
Martelo said he was at in the next concourse when he realized one bucket was missing. Police were called, but the bucket was not recovered.
Martelo said Thursday that he wouldn''t name the company that shipped the gold or indicate where it was going.
"I don''t think the company wants me to discuss anything," he said.
Despite several interviews, police remained stumped. So they decided to go public with the investigation, said spokesman Juan DelCastillo.
In its current form, there''s not much you can do with the dust, experts said.
But a furnace that many jewelry dealers have could melt it down into gold bars or jewelry that could be sold easily, said Marvin Luterman, chief operating officer of Republic Metals Corp.
At Thursday''s gold prices, the powder was worth about $348,000. (AP)
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