The Chittagong Customs House authorities at Shah Amanat International Airport yesterday morning seized 40 gold bars from a plane of Bangladesh Biman which arrived in the city from Abu Dhabi.
Assistant Commissioner (AC) Md Shahadat Jamil of Chittagong Customs House told Dhaka Tribune that they had searched the plane of the flight (BG-028), which touched the land of the airport around 6am after boarding off of all the passengers from the plane and found the 40 gold bars around 6:40am.
“The bars were wrapped with black scotch tape and the bars were found under three seats – seat numbers 28A, 28B and 28C – in abandoned condition,” he said, adding that the bars, weighing 4.50 kilograms, worth Tk1.80 crore.
The seized bars would be handed over to Bangladesh Bank while legislative measures would be taken in this connection, added the customs official.
Existing law allows a person to carry highest 200 grammes gold from abroad paying necessary duty at the airport while the passenger can bring highest two kilograms of gold by giving early notice to the concerning authorities and paying duty according to a circular of Bangladesh Bank.