130 gold bars seized in Ctg airport
Passenger from UAE held
Customs Intelligence officials yesterday detained a person with 130 gold bars, weighing 15kg, hidden inside three rechargeable lamps in his luggage at Hazrat Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram.
The detainee -- Mohammad Joynal Abedin of Fatikchhari upazila in Chattogram -- flew in from the United Arab Emirates at 8:20am, said Babul Iqbal, deputy director (DD) of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate.
The directorate officials suspected that Joynal could be the mule of a gold smuggling ring.
The arrestee had previously visited Bangladesh five times from the UAE and might have smuggled golds during those visits, said Riyadul Islam, a DD of the directorate.
Following a tip-off, Customs officials searched his luggage and found the lamps.
“We broke the lamps and found the gold worth around Tk 6.5 crore,” he said.
During primary interrogation, Joynal gave us the names of the people to whom he was to deliver the bars. “We would investigate the matter,” he added.