Smuggling Gold: Customs finds 60 bars in catering truck

Customs Intelligence officials yesterday arrested eight US-Bangla Airlines employees after recovering 60 gold bars at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The bars, weighing seven kg, were concealed inside the food storage of a catering truck. The officials recovered those after a flight landed at the airport from Dubai around 7:00am, Md Abdur Rouf, director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID), told The Daily Star.

All the arrestees are catering staff of the aircraft, he said.

The arrestees are: Ali Reza, Saddam Hossain, Rashedul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Ashraful Alam, Abu Saleh, Hanif Dewan and Zahedur Rahman.

The CIID DG said they took position at the airport on information that gold is being smuggled through the US-Bangla aircraft. The official carried out their drive before the staff could transfer the gold bars out of the airport.

The gold bars are worth around Tk 4.75 core.

Two separate cases have been filed with the Airport Police Station against the staffers, while handing them over.

Talking to The Daily Star, Kamrul Islam, general manager, Public Relations of US-Bangla Airlines, said the law will take its own course regarding those arrested in this connection.

"US-Bangla Airlines will provide all kinds of assistance to the law enforcement agencies," he said.