Customs officials seized 320 gold bars weighing 37kg from a Qatar Airways flight at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport of the capital on Tuesday.
Zakiya Sultana, commissioner of customs at the airport, said acting on a tip-off, they recovered the gold bars from the flight at around 5:30am after it landed at the airport around 4:30am.
“The gold bars were kept in five packets. One of the packets was hidden inside the luggage chamber, two inside a seat cover and two others under another seat of the aircraft”, she said.
None were arrested in this connection, as the gold carriers could not be identified yet. They found the bars in an abandoned state, she added.
Smuggling of gold through the airport has increased reportedly.
Around 450kg of gold has been recovered from the airport over the last 10 months by the customs department as well as the Armed Police Battalion.
According to sources, several rings are active in the smuggling of gold and other materials like precious stones, currencies and other valuables in liaison with a section of corrupt officials and employees of different airlines and agencies working at the airport.