Customs officials on Monday said it seized 150 gold bars weighing 17.4 kg at Bangladesh’s Shah Amanat International Airport in seaport city Chattogram from a plane arriving from Abu Dhabi.
Nurunnahar Lily, a senior customs official, told journalists that they seized the gold bars worth about 100 million takas (about $1.16 million) from Biman Bangladesh’s flight BG-128 that landed on Monday morning.
Acting on a tip-off, she said the customs officials carried out a search after the plane landed and discovered the bars inside the air-conditioning panel above the passenger’s seat. No one was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Sources said organised gangs of local smugglers, having links with their foreign sidekicks, have been increasingly using Bangladesh as a transit for the illegal transportation of gold, foreign currencies, contraband drug and medicines.