Dhaka Customs House recovered 3 egg-shaped packets containing gold paste concealed in the rectum of a passenger at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday.
In a press release on Thursday, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said it received a tip-off at around 6:30am that gold might be smuggled in on an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Acting on the information, intelligence officers of Dhaka Customs House began surveillance at various points of the airport.
At one point, passenger Arman Uddin Siddique, who arrived on the Air Arabia flight, came to baggage belt-2 after clearing immigration. Finding him suspicious, intelligence officers searched him and recovered 3 egg-shaped objects wrapped in white Scotch tape from his rectum.
According to the NBR press release, the gold had been shaped into round forms in paste form.
Each of the recovered pieces weighed 430 grams, with a total weight of 1,290 grams. The gold was 24 carats pure.
The NBR said approximately 1,000 grams of gold may be obtained if the egg-shaped gold paste is refined. Its estimated market value is Tk 1.74 crore.
Dhaka Customs House is in the process of filing a criminal case against the passenger, the NBR said.
