3 held with 9kg gold in Dhaka

Detectives have detained three alleged members of a gold smuggling ring along with 80 gold bars, weighing 9.33 kilogrammes, in Airport Road area of Dhaka.

The detainees are gold smuggler Faruk Ahmed, 40, Mir Hossain, 30, a staff of a catering centre for Regent Airways, and M Shaheen, 30, a car driver, deputy commissioner Shaikh Nazmul Alam of DB (north division) said at a press conference held at Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) media centre.

Acting on a tip-off that a consignment of gold was being smuggled through a car leaving the airport, a team of Detective Branch (DB) launched a drive in the area around 8:15pm yesterday and arrested the three near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The DB members also seized the car being used by the smugglers from the spot, he said. 

The price of the smuggled gold is approximately Tk four crore, he said.

The gold was brought to the airport last night by a flight of Regent Airways from Dubai, said Nazmul Alam.

Some members of the cabin crew of the Regent Airways were also involved in the gold smuggling, the official said.