Customs officials have seized 902 bars of contraband gold at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong.
Published : 25 Mar 2014, 02:16 PM
The bars weigh more than 105 kg and are worth above Tk 450 million.
Altogether 10 passengers were arrested after Tuesday’s haul which is the largest among the recent attempts to smuggle gold through the airport, said Naoshad Mukul, assistant director for the Customs Intelligence Directorate.
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, BG-026, landed in the city at 11am after transits in Doha and Dubai. The aircraft was scheduled to fly to Dhaka from Chittagong.
Officials of the Customs Intelligence Directorate and the Airport Authorities searched the plane after receiving a tip-off.
Some of the bars were found stashed under a passenger seat, said Airport Custom’s Assistant Commissioner Moshiur Rahman.
The detained passengers were found carrying the gold bars. Some of the gold had been abandoned.
Shah Amanat’s Manager Wing Commander Noor-e-Alam said that those detained were supposed to fly to Dhaka in that aircraft.
The passengers are – Shafik Islam, Peyarul Islam, Md Yakub, Mohin Uddin, Nahid Talukder, Monsur Islam, Imtiaz Khan, Hasan Mahmud and Md Faisal.