Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
Gold smuggling in the country’s different airports, land ports, railway stations and frontier areas has increasingly become a nuisance for the customs department, as seizures of the contraband bullion are now a daily affair, customs intelligence sources said,
The quantity of gold seized by the customs members is only a fraction of the bullion being brought to the country. So, the gold confiscated is just the tip of the iceberg, they said.
It is to be noted that the law enforcing agencies, including, customs detectives, police, BGB and GRP men, seized nearly 4,491kg of gold bars and jewellery in the last four years, they added.
Of theses, 1467 kilograms of gold were seized in 2016, 784 kg in 2015, 1540 kg in 2014 and 620 kg in 2013 from the airport, according to them.
Another sources said, 2,794 kilograms of gold seized in various incidents in the last five years were deposited in the Bangladesh Bank.
A total of 233 cases were filed between 2011 and 2016, and 131 people were arrested, including foreign nationals, on charges of gold smuggling, they said.
In line with this, customs officials on Monday arrested two persons along with 20 gold bars weighing around two kilograms worth around Tk 88 lakh at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).
In Chittagong, customs intelligence officials seized nine gold bars weighing two Kg from a flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at Shah Amanat International Airport.
Earlier, law enforcers recovered six gold bars from a passenger in Chittagong on February 23.
In the meantime, 3.5 kg gold bars worth around Taka 1.75 crore were recovered from a man at HSIA on February 28.
On February 21, around three gold bars were captured and four persons were detained in Dhaka and Chittagong respectively, said Customs Joint Commissioner SM Sohel Rahman.
Customs authority recovered 16 gold bars worth about Taka one crore from an aircrafts at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet on December 17, said Sajjadur Rahman, Assistant Commissioner of Customs Department.
At Kamalapur, Dhaka, the Government
Railway Police seized five gold bars from a passenger at Kamalapur railway station on February 4.
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested a man along with 12 gold bars weighing 1.5 kg from Shikari Battala on September 22 in last year.
When contacted, Dr Moinul Khan, Director General (DG), the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIID), told The New Nation on Monday that law enforcers seized gold and other jewelery everyday at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the city and other parts of the country.
He also claimed that the customs authorities seized over 1100 Kg gold at the HSIA in last half and three years.
“Gold seizures in the airports have become a daily affair for us and dozens of syndicates are involved in gold smuggling in connivance with airport and airline insiders,” said Dr Mainul Khan,
“We have found airliner staff indulging in ‘such nefarious activities’, but we have still not been able to completely put a stop on such activities because there are a lot of unforeseen cracks in the security apparatus in the airports,” he added.
“We are trying our level best to plug these cracks by conducting surprise checks at vulnerable spots,” he further said. “The smuggling with the combined channel of terrorism and organised crime is threatening the country,” said Major General (retd) Abdur Rashid, a security analyst.
He said that the authorities should combine research, training and preventive measures to bring smuggling down to tolerable level, if not to zero.
Gold smuggling in the country’s different airports, land ports, railway stations and frontier areas has increasingly become a nuisance for the customs department, as seizures of the contraband bullion are now a daily affair, customs intelligence sources said,
The quantity of gold seized by the customs members is only a fraction of the bullion being brought to the country. So, the gold confiscated is just the tip of the iceberg, they said.
It is to be noted that the law enforcing agencies, including, customs detectives, police, BGB and GRP men, seized nearly 4,491kg of gold bars and jewellery in the last four years, they added.
Of theses, 1467 kilograms of gold were seized in 2016, 784 kg in 2015, 1540 kg in 2014 and 620 kg in 2013 from the airport, according to them.
Another sources said, 2,794 kilograms of gold seized in various incidents in the last five years were deposited in the Bangladesh Bank.
A total of 233 cases were filed between 2011 and 2016, and 131 people were arrested, including foreign nationals, on charges of gold smuggling, they said.
In line with this, customs officials on Monday arrested two persons along with 20 gold bars weighing around two kilograms worth around Tk 88 lakh at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).
In Chittagong, customs intelligence officials seized nine gold bars weighing two Kg from a flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at Shah Amanat International Airport.
Earlier, law enforcers recovered six gold bars from a passenger in Chittagong on February 23.
In the meantime, 3.5 kg gold bars worth around Taka 1.75 crore were recovered from a man at HSIA on February 28.
On February 21, around three gold bars were captured and four persons were detained in Dhaka and Chittagong respectively, said Customs Joint Commissioner SM Sohel Rahman.
Customs authority recovered 16 gold bars worth about Taka one crore from an aircrafts at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet on December 17, said Sajjadur Rahman, Assistant Commissioner of Customs Department.
At Kamalapur, Dhaka, the Government
Railway Police seized five gold bars from a passenger at Kamalapur railway station on February 4.
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested a man along with 12 gold bars weighing 1.5 kg from Shikari Battala on September 22 in last year.
When contacted, Dr Moinul Khan, Director General (DG), the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIID), told The New Nation on Monday that law enforcers seized gold and other jewelery everyday at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the city and other parts of the country.
He also claimed that the customs authorities seized over 1100 Kg gold at the HSIA in last half and three years.
“Gold seizures in the airports have become a daily affair for us and dozens of syndicates are involved in gold smuggling in connivance with airport and airline insiders,” said Dr Mainul Khan,
“We have found airliner staff indulging in ‘such nefarious activities’, but we have still not been able to completely put a stop on such activities because there are a lot of unforeseen cracks in the security apparatus in the airports,” he added.
“We are trying our level best to plug these cracks by conducting surprise checks at vulnerable spots,” he further said. “The smuggling with the combined channel of terrorism and organised crime is threatening the country,” said Major General (retd) Abdur Rashid, a security analyst.
He said that the authorities should combine research, training and preventive measures to bring smuggling down to tolerable level, if not to zero.
