Customs Assistant Commissioner Jewela Khanam said Baslina Binte Raja Malek, 53, was detained when she was passing the green channel around 12pm Tuesday.
She was frisked after her movement was found suspicious, the customs official said, adding six gold bars, weighing a kg each were found on her.
The detainee came to Bangladesh on a Malaysian Airlines flight around 11am, said APBn Assistant Superintendent Nur-e Alam Siddique.
"She never came to Bangladesh before, according to the travel details on her passport. She was also not fluent in English so we could not ascertain yet her destination in Bangladesh," he said.
Legal action was being taken against her, said Assistant Commissioner Jewela Khanam.