Chittagong Customs authorities at Shah Amanat International Airport seized 53 gold bars, brought in illegally, from a Dubai-returned passenger yesterday morning.
Moshiur Rahman Mondol, assistant commissioner of Chittagong Customs House, told Dhaka Tribune that the custom officials found the bars tied around the knees of a passenger named Anisur Rahman Chowdhury, 32, when they searched the Bangladesh Biman (BG-048) flight after it landed around 7:30am.
The seized bars weigh around 6.182kg and have the estimated value of Tk 2.65 crore, according to Moshiur, who said the bars were handed over to Bangladesh Bank.
The flight was from Dubai to Dhaka via Chittagong, said the custom official.
The existing law allows a person to carry not more than 200g of gold from abroad paying necessary duty at the airport, said the assistant commissioner.
As many as 1,700 gold bars worth around Tk83 crore have been seized from the same airport in 49 drives in 2014 so far, according to customs officials. Last year, 686 gold bars worth Tk35.3 crore were seized in 16 drives.
