23.4kg gold seized at Chattogram airport

Officials of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) today recovered 200 gold bars weighing 23.4 kilogrammes from the toilets of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram.

Tipped off, a team of CIID conducted a drive at Biman flight BG-128 which arrived in Chattogram at around 6:00am from Abu Dhabi, said CIID Director General Shahidul Islam.

“The gold bars were recovered from two toilets of the Biman flight in two boxes, which were stuck under the basins,” he said.

“It is not possible to run such smuggling without the involvement of concerned aircraft employees,” the CIID official said.

“We had quizzed the crewmembers of the flight and have launched an investigation to find out the persons engaged with the smuggling,” DG Shahidul added.

The recovered gold bars, worth around Tk 12 crores, would be deposited at the Bangladesh Bank while a departmental case would be lodged under customs act, said CIID officials.