20.5kg gold seized

 Customs Intelligence officials seized 20.5kgs of gold worth around Tk 10 crore and detained six people, including two Malaysians, in two separate incidents at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday.

Of the gold, 14.5kgs were seized from the possession of two female passengers who travelled from Chittagong to Dhaka on Biman Bangladesh Airlines' Kuwait-Chittagong-Dhaka flight, customs officials said.

Moinul Khan, director general of customs intelligence, said on information they intercepted Anwara Begum and Nahida Farzana Moni at the domestic terminal.

The officials recovered 125 pieces of gold bars, worth around Tk 7 crore, frisking them, he said.

After knowing that the gold was handed over to them by two men inside the aircraft, the officials took them to identify the two men.

On their information, the officials detained Anwar Parvez and Osman Sohel from customs house area moments before their departure, he said, adding that the two men were frequent flyers.

Moinul said the two men smuggled the gold into the country from Kuwait while the females, who worked at a beauty parlour in Chittagong, carried those from Chittagong to Dhaka. They exchanged the gold bars inside the aircraft toilet.

In a separate incident, Malaysians Chankok Wai, 24, and Chen Sim Sapp, 58, of Chinese decent were detained with 6kgs of gold at the airport.

The two arrived in Dhaka on a Malaysian Airlines flight which landed at 9:30pm.

Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, assistant commissioner of customs, said they searched the bodies of the two and found six gold bars, worth around Tk 3 crore, in their waist belts.

Legal actions were being taken against the duo, said the official, adding that the two had visited Bangladesh before.

"Although there are instructions from the authorities to scan passengers and all baggage, there's always something lacking," said a security officer at the airport, wishing anonymity.

"We strengthened vigilance at the domestic terminal too," DG Moinul added.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is the only airline that allows domestic passengers from Sylhet and Chittagong to fly to Dhaka on its international flights.

The domestic passengers get their exits through the domestic terminal.

With the latest seizure, customs intelligence officials seized 209kgs of gold at different airports this year.