Go to all that work and then get found out by using shitty spray paint.
This is the first time I hear about such a case. Imagine how many times it actually did work in the last decades. More effort and this would have gone through like the others.
Yeah, customs doesn’t inspect every single item going though. Wonder is they considered just labeling it as lead bar and spray painting, although that would rely on regular shipments of lead bar going from HK to JP and inspectors not looking too closely as lead bar shipments.