At least 1,000 kilograms of smuggled gold was seized at two international airports in Dhaka and Chittagong in the last 22 months, according to the customs.
Addressing a press briefing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Moinul Khan, director general of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, said smugglers had been forced to come up with innovative and risky ideas to smuggle gold into Bangladesh in the last two years because of the strict surveillance by the customs.
In the latest seizure, customs officials recovered 12 gold bars, each weighing 1kg, early yesterday.
“After a nine-hour search that began around 6pm on Thursday, the gold bars, estimated to be worth Tk6 crore, were found in a wooden box containing a consignment of table fans at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s cargo unit,” Deputy Director of the customs directorate Mustafizur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.
The consignment came from Hong Kong on a cargo flight of Cathy Pacific, a route that was never used before to smuggle gold into Dhaka.
It was addressed to Zara International in Dhaka, but DG Moinul said the address was fake.
“We will seek assistance from Hong Kong customs to find out the criminals. The real owner of the gold bars can be tracked down as we have a few clues to his identity,” he said.
The customs official also said the cargo aircraft would not be seized as none of its staff was involved in the smuggling.
“Dubai, Singapore and Malaysia are the usual routes for smuggling gold into Bangladesh. Gold bars from Dubai typically weigh 10 grams whereas those coming from Malaysia and Singapore weigh up to 1kg.
“As each of the gold bars found in the box weighs 1kg, we think that smugglers might have changed their routes to deceive the customs,” added Moinul.
On January 17, the customs detained three persons, including an official of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for their suspected involvement in gold smuggling.
Also in November last year, police arrested five people, including a deputy director of the national flag carrier, on the same charge.
Investigations have revealed that at least 23 smuggling gangs have been actively involved in smuggling gold into Bangladesh. 11 of those directly smuggle the precious metal while others operate in the guise of money exchange traders.
Of the 11, seven are based at Dhaka airport, three at Chittagong airport and the other at Sylhet airport.