Amid rampant smuggling of gold and as part of its intermittent seizure, customs officials yesterday recovered a further haul of 36 gold bars weighing 4.2kg from a flight of Fly Dubai Airlines at Hazarat Shahjalal International Airport.
Assistant Commissioner Kamrul Hasan of the Customs Department said acting on a tip-off they searched the flight from Dubai immediately after it landed at the airport around 10am.
He said the gold bars were kept hidden inside a seat of the aircraft and in one of its lavatories.
The gold bars were worth around Tk2 crore, the customs official said, adding that efforts were underway to identify who smuggled the gold and the ring involved.
The seizure was made within two days within the recovery of 138 gold bars on June 14 from another flight of the same airlines bound for Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong.
The smuggling of gold is rife in recent times, with over 1,500kg gold seized.
A record number of gold hauls were 124kg, 109kg and 107kg seized on tip-offs at different times.
The airport officials say gold smuggling into Bangladesh through air routes became rampant after India imposed restrictions on gold import.
The restriction led the smugglers to use Bangladesh routes for sending gold to India illegally.
There are 60 gold smuggling rings working in alleged collaboration with the officials of Biman and CAAB, crew members and airport security.
