Two held at HSIA with 32 kg gold

Illegal consignments of gold have continued to flow at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) as customs officials hauled another consignment of 32 kilograms of the precious item worth around Tk 160 million from the airport Sunday, officials said.

Two passengers -- Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Sharif -- were also arrested in connection with their alleged involvement in carrying 270 gold bars illegally as informed by the customs authority.

When contacted, Assistant Commissioner (Customs) at the HSIA Kazi Zia Uddin said the gold was recovered from the toilet of a flight of Bangladesh Biman which came from Dubai and landed at the airport around 3:00pm.

He said they had information that a big consignment of unauthorised gold was going to land in Bangladesh with the flight, which prompted them and other intelligent members to conduct a raid on it.

"Financial value of the seized gold could reach Tk 160 million in accordance with the current market price," he said, adding that the arrestees were taken for interrogation.   

Earlier on Saturday night, the customs officials in another drive arrested two passengers and recovered a consignment of 10 kilograms of gold from the airport. Several consignments of such gold had been recovered over the last several weeks by the customs men.