A man was arrested at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday morning and 3kg of gold was seized. Eight others had been arrested with 1,100grams of gold on Thursday night.
According to official sources, Customs officials arrested Arif Hossain, 29, with 3kg gold immediately after he had arrived in Dhaka on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight coming in from Kuala Lumpur around 8am.
Customs Assistant Commissioner Shamsul Arefin said Arif was arrested while crossing the green channel and the gold, which was worth Tk1.5 crore, was found when he was subjected to a body search.
Meanwhile, Armed Police Battalion (APBn) arrested eight Bangladeshi expatriates with 1,100grams of gold after they had arrived in Dhaka from Riyadh on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on Thursday night.
They arrested were Mokhlesur Rahman, Md Sharif, Amirul Haque, Humayun Akbar, Nurul Alam, Delwar Hossain, Mainuddin and Abdul Kader.
Additional Superintendent of APBn Alamgir Hossain Shimul said the eight were arrested for evading the taxes and duties they were supposed to pay for the gold they had brought into the country.
Gold smuggling intensified at the airports in the country since the Indian government imposed some restrictions on the import of gold last year.
In two separate incidents, 124kg and 109kg of gold were seized at Dhaka airport in the past. In a recent times, the airport uthorities have seized a huge quantity of gold bars from customers lagguage as well as from aeroplane's toilet. Airport sources said a syndicate in collaboration with customs officials have been smugling golds into the country.
