Organised gang at airport involved

A syndicate of airport and hangar staff are involved in smuggling at Shahjalal International Airport, said a top official of customs intelligence yesterday.
Moinul Khan, director general of customs intelligence, said this after interrogating Mohammad Anisuddin, assistant aircraft mechanic of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, arrested in connection with 106 kilograms of gold found inside the toilets of a Biman aircraft on Saturday.
A Dhaka court yesterday placed Anis on a five-day remand.
A senior technician, whom Anis has named, had employed Anis to get the gold out of the airport, said Moinul.
Customs officials seized a mobile phone containing text messages and information from other airport employees, he added. “We will find the people linked to the smuggling very soon.”
“We suspect the gold was supposed to be taken out of the plane in service cars or catering trucks or some other airport vehicles. This indicates that others are involved,” he observed.
Anis has been working at the airport for 15 to 18 years. He might have been involved in previous gold smuggling as well, said Moinul.