Half a tonne smuggled gold seized last fiscal

Shah Alam Nur | Published: October 19, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Relevant Bangladesh official agencies seized a record volume of gold -- more than half a tonne, believed to be destined for Indian market, during the last financial year (2013-14). Â
The catch shows a steep rise in smuggling of the precious metal as Bangladesh Customs seized only 5.56kg gold in FY'13. Â
Sources in the know of things say the seizure exposes only the tip of an iceberg regarding the actual volume of gold smuggled.Â Â Â Â
They assume that nearly 109 tonnes of gold was smuggled in the FY'14 to India -- the second-largest gold consumer after China.
The sources are of the opinion that Bangladesh being blessed with a suitable geographic location in the trading realms is being used as a transit for gold smuggling.
Law-enforcing departments have observed the smugglers use poor youths for smuggling the yellow metal with lucrative offers like new jobs in the Middle-East or Singapore.Â Â
They claim that in recent times, the smugglers have been adopting alternative routes like airway and railway for smuggling gold -- and drugs, too.
India, world's second top gold consumer, last year hiked the import duty on gold more than 10 per cent to curb demand for the precious metal. As a result, the trade took a detour into unauthorised free-market transactions.
According to the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) of Bangladesh, the directorate had seized 565 kilograms of gold in FY'14 against only 5.56 kilograms in FY'13 -- a 101 times increase.
More than 105 persons have been arrested and 90 cases filed in connection with the gold seizure at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong (SAIA) and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet.
"In recent times gold smuggling through Bangladesh increased significantly due to Indian hike of import duty, which led to a spurt in the smuggling of gold," Mainul Khan, director-general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department, told the FE.
He said they don't have any specific information on how much gold is being smuggled every day to the neighbouring country.
The customs official said the smugglers prefer airports to carry the metal as the airway linked international with domestic routes. As a result, almost all the gold smugglers have been regularly using the sky route to take the advantage.
He said in the last three months (July-September) 65kg gold was seized at the three international airports.
In July 2013, the customs intelligence seized as many as 1,064 gold bars weighing around 124 kgs at HSIA -- the biggest gold haul in recent years.
Latest on Saturday, the head of CIID said, customs officials detained a man with 64 gold bars, weighing around 7.5 kilograms, at HSIA. Market price of the seized gold is estimated around Tk 37 million.
A leader of Bangladesh Jewelers' Association (BJA) said some 310-320 kgs of gold consignments are coming daily but the highest 2 per cent are caught.
Quoting from the World Gold Council report he said about 200-250 tonnes of gold could be smuggled out into India in the current calendar year through its neighbouring countries.
He said nearly 109 tonnes of the precious metal was smuggled to India in FY'14.
Not only airways, he says, the smugglers are using land and waterways by ship, bus and train to smuggle gold into India.
Dewan Aminul Islam Shahin, general secretary of Bangladesh Jewelers Association (BJA), a platform of gold-ornament makers, said price gaps between the gulf countries, India and Bangladesh are responsible for the rise in the incidence of gold smuggling.
He said per-10-gram gold costs about Tk 38,000 in a gulf country, such as UAE, Saudi Arabia or Quarter, and in Singapore. The price is more than Tk 40,000 in India and around Tk 46,000 in Bangladesh.
He said India raised import duty on gold from 2.0 per cent to 4.0 per cent in April 2012, 6 percent in January 2013, 8 per cent in June and 10 per cent in August 2013 to stop outflow of foreign currency and reduce the demand for the luxury item.
An officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a specialised wing of the Bangladesh Police, said a number of powerful smuggling syndicates are involved in making the most from the bonanza in the gold underworld.
He says a section of politicos, businessmen, and airport and civil aviation officials in Bangladesh and West Bengal are among the suspects.
"Almost all gold smugglers are using airways but the smuggled gold is being distributed by bus through roadways and by train through railways," the official said.
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