Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Gold smuggling in the country’s three international airports in connivance with the insiders is increasingly becoming a headache for the Customs Intelligence Department as seizures of the contraband bullion have become a daily affair.
Intelligence sources said, the quantity of gold seized by the Customs Officials is only a fraction of the bullion being brought to the country. So, the gold confiscated is just the tip of the iceberg, they added.
It is to be noted that the Customs Authorities have seized nearly 3,000kg of gold bars and jewellery in the last three years from the three airports, particularly the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).
In 2015, 784kg gold was seized, 1,540kg in 2014 and 620kg in 2013 from the airport.
In its latest drive, the Customs Department recovered over 21kg gold in the last three days from a flight at HSIA in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, the Intelligence Agencies have detected at least 25 syndicates involved in smuggling the yellow metal through airports.
The agencies in their reports said airport and airline insiders are facilitating smugglers in moving the consignment out of the airports.
Most of the consignments are going to India. Local agents are delivering smuggled gold to the border with India for a commission paid for each gold bar, added the reports.
“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,” Dr Mainul Khan, Chief of the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIID), told The New Nation on Tuesday.
He said teams of Airport Customs are catching gold smugglers red-handed almost everyday at the two international airports in Dhaka and Chittagong with bullion brought in mainly from the Middle East and believed destined for India.
“We have found airliner staff indulging in ‘such nefarious activities’, but have still not been able to completely put a stop on such activities by their officials 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 said.
Bangladesh has seen a huge leap in gold smuggling through airports after India increased duties on gold imports in April, 2013.
“The amount of gold seized by our officials is only a fragment of the bullion that is being brought to the country. This is then smuggled to India through land routes,” said Moinul Khan.
Officials said, the boost in gold seizures may be due to increased enforcement efforts.
