Man arrested for attempt to smuggle Tk 25m in foreign currencies

The Armed Police Battalion or APBn has arrested a man at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on charges of trying to smuggle a large amount of foreign currencies.

Jahangir Gazi, 36, was arrested at 6:30am on Monday while he was allegedly trying to catch an Istanbul-bound flight of Turkish Airlines.

The Bangladeshi national wrapped the currencies around his body, the APBn said, adding the foreign currencies are worth Tk 25 million.

"Jahangir behaved suspiciously and when interrogated initially, he denied (carrying any contraband item)," said APBn Additional Superintendent of Police Ziaul Haque.

"Later the police found currencies of eight countries after searching his body. These include 1.1 million Saudi riyal. He wrapped those in a special way around his body."

Jahangir could not show any legal document for carrying the currencies, said Ziaul.

The arrestee took advantage of being a 'commercial person' (sic) to smuggle the currencies, he added.

A cloth trader by profession, Jahangir did not do any trade for the past two years. His passport shows he had travelled abroad for at least 128 times in this period.

Jahangir will face legal action, said Ziaul.