A passenger named Sayem was passing through green channel of Hazrat Shahjalal International airport of Dhaka. He reached from Malaysia. But customs officials started searching him following his suspicious activity. At one stage they scanned his shoe and found about thirty gold bars inside his shoe. Officials said, these bars may worth about one and half crore taka.
Sayem is from Munshiganj district, he is in police remand for two days. Another female passenger coming back from Malaysia was arrested on same day; she was carrying two hundred grams of gold. A case is also filed against her. But according to customs baggage rule, two hundred grams of gold can be brought with zero duty.
It is not clear whether gold smuggling has increased in recent days, or customs officials have been more vigilant. Gold seizure has been common news in recent months. A lawmaker of Indian state of West Bengal was arrested by Indian police yesterday. He was smuggling thirty five kilograms of gold from Bangladesh. Bangladeshi jewelers hardly import gold, it is alleged that they rely on smuggled gold.
