Staff Reporter :In yet another major haul, customs intelligence on Thursday seized 320 pieces of gold bars weighing 37 kilogrammes from an aircraft of Emirates Airways at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka.Acting on a tipped off, a team of custom intelligence started search inside the aircraft of Emirates Airways for smuggled gold soon after it landed the airport at 6:15pm from Dubai. Later, they recovered 320 pieces of gold bars weighing 37 kilogrammes concealed under three passenger seats and a toilet of the aircraft, Assistant Commissioner of Dhaka Customs House told The New Nation.He said, the value of the recovered gold has been estimated at TK19 crore, “A ring is involved in the smuggling of this stash. They used to hide the gold bars inside the aircraft as their tactic to dodge the intelligence agencies at the airport,” he added.Earlier, in another major haul, customs intelligence seized 61 kg gold from a Biman aircraft at Shahjalal International Airport on February 2 this year.More than 1,000 kg gold was seized at the country’s airports in last one year alone.Some 160 cases have been filed in the last four years against over 200 people, mostly carriers, in the capital. But not a single case has been disposed of, police and court sources say.
