Joynal Abedin Khan :Gold smuggling has reached at an alarming level in the country as Custom officials seized huge quantity of gold weighing around 1,125 kilograms worth over Tk 560 crore from different airports, sea ports, land ports and Custom stations in the last Fiscal Year (FY).But, around 100 kg of gold were seized in FY-2013, whereas the amount was only 250 kg in 2012, according to officials of the Customs Intelligence unit of the National Board of Revenue.Smuggling syndicates are using Bangladesh as a transit point to smuggle the yellow metal to India, which has hiked import duty on it thrice to 10 percent since January last year, they claimed.In the meantime, seizure of one kg to eight kg gold every day is quite common at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the capital and Hazrat Shah Amanat International Airport (HSIA) in Chittagong respectively.So far, 1,064 gold bars weighing around 124 kg were seized at HSIA in July of 2014. It was the biggest gold haul in recent years. Besides, 107 kg gold worth around Tk 45 crore was seized from an inbound flight at Chittagong Airport on March 25.Custom Officials arrested a man along with 1.2 kg gold at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital on Saturday night. The arrested man identified as Nazmul Hossain, 39.Earlier, Customs Intelligence detained two men with 43 gold bars weighing 5.1 kilograms in two separate drives at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Saturday evening.On August 11, Custom officials seized around 7.5kg gold at HSIA. The arrested passengers have been identified as Josna Akter and Zarin Begum.On August 2, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained five people with 12.5 kg gold.At HSIA, Customs Official seized 161 gold bars weighing nearly 19 kg in a massive gold haul on February 2.In Chittagong, Customs intelligence officials recovered 325 pieces of gold bars weighing around 38 kilograms and arrested two young men at Chittagong Airport.In Jessore, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested a gold smuggler along with 21 gold bars weighing 2.5 kg, from Benapole Check Post area of the district on April 7, said BGB-26 Commanding Officer Colonel Mohammad Jahangir Hossain.In Chandpur, a railway passenger has been arrested in Chandpur district with ten gold bars from a train coming from Chittagong on August 9, said Chandpur Railway Police OC Osman Gani Pathan. Meanwhile, Government agencies have seized 719 kg gold from the Dhaka Airport in a year, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has told Parliament on June 27. He revealed the figure while answering to a query from Jatiya Party Lawmaker MA Hannan. Replying to another query, he said that 1,793.72 kg or 1.8 tons of gold was seized in the last five years and kept in Bangladesh Bank’s custody. He said that the gold was auctioned and the money was deposited to the treasury once the state got verdict in its favour in the cases over the confiscations. “The import tax on gold was higher in India. Bangladesh may be used as a transit route for smuggling the metal to India,” he said explaining the reasons behind the rise of smuggling.”The smuggling is increasing as the price of gold is less abroad. Black-money is used to smuggle gold after monitoring against money laundering became stringent.” The smuggling might also be done to meet the internal demands, he said. “We have intensified our vigilance at the airports and the growing number of seizures is an outcome of our efforts,” Moinul Khan, Director General of Customs Intelligence Department, told The New Nation on Thursday.Atotal of 3,143 people were arrested for smuggling in the last three years, he said.Customs Assistant Director Jannatul Ferdous said that a major portion of the gold was being smuggled into India through Benapole, Sonamasjid, Akhaura, Hili, Burimari, and Bhomra land ports.”According to the Baggage Rules in Bangladesh, a passenger can bring gold bars weighing 200 grams by paying Tk 150 as duty for every 11.66 grams (one tola), and gold ornaments weighing up to 200 grams without paying any tax,” she said.It is difficult to contain gold smuggling through land ports due to absence of required facilities, said Lt Col Matiur Rahman, Commanding Officer of Border Guard Bangladesh in Jessore. “Gold smuggling could have been checked if the land ports had necessary equipment and manpower,” he said.
