Tk 2.6 cr foreign currencies seized, three air passengers held

Customs and intelligence officials seized foreign currencies worth Tk 2.6 crore from three outgoing passengers at Zia International Airport (ZIA) in the city on Monday night.Photo: STAR

Customs and intelligence officials seized foreign currencies worth Tk 2.6 crore from three outgoing passengers at Zia International Airport (ZIA) in the city on Monday night.
The three -- Md Selim, Yunus Ali and Md Rajan -- were also arrested as they were carrying 14,81,000 Saudi rials, 23,500 UAE dirhams and 500 Qatar rials. They were scheduled to fly to Singapore.
Customs officials filed three cases with the Airport Police Station and handed them over to the police.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of customs and intelligence officials and task force members kept a sharp eye on passengers of a Singapore-bound flight scheduled to take off at 10:00pm.
But even the scanning machine failed to detect the currencies kept in the luggage of three arrestees.
"As we had specific information, we searched their luggage and found foreign currencies kept in jars of chutney, talcum powder and tooth power," Humayun Kabir, additional commissioner of Customs, ZIA, told The Daily Star.
The three, however, claimed that they did not know about the existence of the currencies. Somebody might have kept them in their bags, they added.
Customs officials said the three are engaged in smuggling of foreign currencies and money laundering.