Allegations of abusing authority to help illegal transportation of goods and people rose against BGB officials serving in the Teknaf transit point near Khaukkhali canal in Cox’s Bazar.
Locals said unscrupulous traders had turned the BGB-controlled point as well as others like it into mini-ports to smuggle contraband goods, illegal immigrants and even legal goods in order to evade regular port fees and taxes.
Every day two boats from Myanmar carrying around 250-300 passengers with goods travelled through the station.
T-shirts, crockeries, cutleries, biscuits, cold drinks, chips, vermicelli and medicines are among goods exported to Myanmar while goods like slippers, pickles, blankets, bed-sheets, dried fish, chocolates, electronic gadgets, PVC pipe fittings and coconuts are imported through the point.
Goods worth over about Tk30,000 are unloaded illegally everyday breaching the treaty for cross-border trade.
The station is open for boat passengers on the Bangladesh-Myanmar route and each person is allowed to carry goods worth Tk3,000.
In this regard, Md Nur-e-Alam, a revenue officer of Teknaf Land Port, said goods were being transported illegally through the point causing huge revenue loss to the government.
“I sent several complaint letters to Teknaf BGB 42 [which controls the point] but nothing happened.”
Sources at the Teknaf Land Customs Station said port authorities had collected only 75% of their targeted revenue in the 2012-13 fiscal year, largely thanks to illegal transportation of goods through BGB-controlled transit stations.
Corrupt businessmen and syndicates of black-marketeers with the assistance of officials had been using the stations for smuggling goods and avoiding taxes otherwise charged at the land port, they added.
They also said the government could realise double its revenue collection target if incoming goods were unloaded in legal ways.
However, Ibne Amir, an official of the Teknaf Khaukkali Transit Station, refuted the allegations made by custom officials and said goods and passengers were transported in a “systematic way.”
“BGB seizes illegal goods and takes legal action against anyone found in possession of them,” he added.
Refusing the allegation of abuse of authority, Lt Col Abuzar Al Zahid, captain of Teknaf BGB 42, said, “I have not received any verbal or written complaint from the customs. Whenever we seize illegal goods, we hand them over to the customs office.”