Three detained at Dhaka airport over gold smuggling

A total of 887.5 grammes of gold has been seized from them

The Airport Armed Police Battalion has detained three people in separate incidents at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport in a single day, seizing 887.5 grammes of gold.

A media statement said that at 9:20am on Sunday, APBn apprehended 27-year-old Md Saleh Faisal with 293.50g of gold ornaments, worth about Tk 3.61 million, at the roundabout of the departure and arrival terminals of Shahjalal International Airport.

On the same day at 1:45pm, APBn detained Monirul Islam, 34, near the Arrival Terminal 2 at Shahjalal Airport.

A search recovered 395g of gold ornaments from him, with an estimated market value of Tk 4.62 million, the statement added.

Two separate cases were filed under the Special Powers Act, 1974, at the Dhaka International Airport Police Station in both incidents.

APBn also detained a 32-year-old man named Masum Rana at the airport's Arrival Terminal 2 around 8:30am with 199g of gold ornaments. He was later sent to the airport's executive magistrate’s court.

During interrogation, APBn learned the detainees had illegally brought the recovered gold ornaments into Bangladesh from several countries via unidentified passengers, evading customs.

Each of the detainees has long been involved in a gold smuggling ring at the airport, working as a receiver, it said.