Shah Alam Nur :
A large number of Biman officials and staff are involved in gold smuggling racket across the country’s three international airports.
According to an Intelligence Agency reports 30 syndicates are behind the crime. Several staffers of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) are also a party to it.
The report said, the Biman employees include five pilots, four co-pilots, 25 cabin crew, 15 flight stewards, five chief pursers, three flight pursers and seven junior pursers.
The Intelligence Agency has submitted the report recently to the Prime Minister’s Office. It was forwarded to the Home Ministry asking the Ministry to take action against those involved.
It also said, about 80 per cent of the gold smugglers in the country are based in Chittagong.
Gold enters Bangladesh directly from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman or via Singapore and Malaysia. But Bangladesh is not the final destination, it is only a route to smuggle the yellow metal through land ports to India, where gold is used particularly in weddings and religious festivals.
Unscrupulous Biman officials get Tk 1,000 to 1,500 for each 10-tola gold bar to pass through airports, added the report.
The gold is smuggled through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet.
Of the 30 Syndicates involved, 23 operate inside the country and the rest from outside.
Of the 23 rings at home, 11 are directly involved in gold smuggling and 12 are smuggling gold with money exchange as front business.
And of the 11 directly involved, seven are active at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, three at Shah Amanat International Airport and one at Osmani International Airport.
The rackets are backed by some political leaders and top officials in the police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the report said.
“They are so powerful that they always remain beyond the reach of law enforcement agencies,” an official of law enforcement agency told The New Nation on Tuesday.
In all, some 5,000 people are involved in the smuggling as facilitators, middlemen or carriers. They are located in the capital, Chittagong and different bordering districts, including Satkhira, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Kushtia and Chuadanga.
In recent months, Detectives and Customs Officials arrested at least four suspected Syndicate members from the capital.
Usually, the syndicates use Biman flights for smuggling because its aircraft are kept at the Airport in Dhaka longer and are often taken to the hangars for maintenance, allowing them sufficient time to offload gold.
Earlier in October last year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) found 14 people, including 10 staff of Biman’s Engineering Section and an Indian and a Nepali citizen, involved in the smuggling of 124 kg of gold in 2013.
General Manager of Public Relations Khan Musharraf Hossain said, “The authorities and the airline will swiftly take all necessary action against any individual responsible when it has been proven that inappropriate and illegal activity has taken place.”
He said they would not elaborate on the matter as it is being investigated.
Dr Moinul Khan, Director General of Customs Intelligence, told The New Nation on Tuesday that the investigation committee has submitted a report over gold recovery report and we will take action against those responsible.”
He said “Organized criminals are involved with the smuggling. There are also underworld transactions. We are trying our best to resist it. But we have certain limitations.”
He said authorities have strengthened enforcement and using other tactics to end the smuggling spree.
“Despite manpower and technology crunch, we are getting some results,” he said.
