Woman detained with 8 gold bars at HSIA

Staff Reporter :
A woman was arrested with eight gold bars weighing 932grams by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital on Thursday morning.
According to the airport sources, the woman named Nurun Nahar landed at the airport by Biman Bangladesh flight BG-148 from Dubai at 9:00am.
Acting on information, a team of customs detectives led by Abdul Mannan Majumder, Assistant Director of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Circle, challenged the woman while she was crossing the boarding bridge of the airport.
Later, they recovered eight gold bars worth TK 65 lakh while searching her body. She was handed over to Airport Police Station after filing a case.
Meanwhile, about 7.5 maunds (275.9315kgs) of smuggled gold were recovered from various inbound passengers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the last five months.
Though customs Intelligence and law enforcers arrested some people involved, the godfathers remain untouched and unpunished.
Armed Police Battalion (APBn), Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIID), and National Security Intelligence (NSI) seized the smuggled gold from the inbound passengers at the airport.
APBn Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mohammad Ziaul Haque said the people who were arrested for carrying smuggled gold are mostly passengers.
“The smugglers managed the passengers at the foreign airports to carry the gold and asked them to hand over the gold to their gang members inside or near the airport. They passengers being lured carry the gold and finally pay the price,” he said.
According to sources, more than 100 people have been arrested in 2021 for their involvement in gold smuggling. In the same year, 202 departmental cases were filed. Moreover, several employees of Biman had been fired for being involved in gold smuggling.