Gold glitters at BD airports

Bangladesh is not blessed with the deposits of any precious minerals. But of late, its two international airports, located in Dhaka and Chittagong, have turned out to be man-made mini mines of a precious metal, gold.  
Customs officials stationed at these two airports have seized nearly two metric tonnes of gold, valued at about US$80 million (Tk 6.32 billion) during the past 16 months. If the current trend of gold-haul continues for an indefinite period, the central bank, after some time, might find it difficult to accommodate its gold reserve!
Customs officials and security experts are of the opinion that the quantity of smuggled gold being seized is a small fraction of the total volume of the precious metal entering the country en route to neighbouring India. If the entire volume of smuggled gold could be hauled, Bangladesh, perhaps, would have a bullion deposit of at least one hundred tonne by now!
Common people appear to be happy to see Bangladesh becoming owner of a large quantity of gold at no cost. At the same time, they are found inquisitive about the reasons for a sudden spurt in the detection of smuggled gold.
Import of gold for commercial or industrial purposes in Bangladesh is banned. The local jewelers claim that the recycling of old gold ornaments and gold bars or gold ornaments brought home by the expatriate Bangladesh workers under the baggage rules are enough to meet their demand. However, they do not rule out the use of smuggled gold. But the quantity is very small, they claim. The jewelers' version appears to be tenable since there is no valid reason for any sudden jump in the demand for gold in the local market.
The general impression is that Bangladesh along with neighbouring Nepal is being used as a route to smuggle gold into India, the world's largest buyer of gold. Annually, India imports between 850 and 1000 tonnes of gold, valued at about $38 billion. The incidence of smuggling of gold into India has increased of late because of the doubling of duty and taxes on bullion to help reduce its ballooning trade deficit and check the erosion in the value of rupee against the greenback.  
A successful smuggling bid fetches handsome dividend for the masterminds who usually operate from Mumbai of India, Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. In the process, the couriers of gold and the people who ensure safe passage of gold through different airports get paid by the rings of smugglers.
It does appear from the sudden rise in the incidents of gold smuggling that a good number of people employed with different agencies working at the major Bangladesh airports have been recruited by the smugglers through their field operators.   
The detection of smuggled gold takes place either by chance or due to the leaking of information by someone involved in the network of smugglers following disputes over payment or something else.
Usually, the people who get caught at the airports with smuggled gold are mere couriers, engaged by the behind-the-scene people in exchange for some financial benefit. The court in most cases grant them bail for lack of proof. Very rarely are the real operators of gold smuggling nabbed by the law enforcers and punished.
Frequent seizures of gold in sizeable quantities bring smiles on a few faces. But there are reasons for them to be worried also. If a country turns out be a safe and easy transit route for illegal gold or arms, its image gets tarnished internationally.
None knows exactly the actual situation with Bangladesh as far as the smuggling of gold is concerned. In all probabilities, the frequency of gold smuggling via Bangladesh would have come down if the Indian authorities revised downward the duties and taxes on gold.  
No matter what happens, the Bangladesh authorities must take appropriate actions to stop the use of the country as a transit for gold smuggling. This is necessary for the sake of the international image of the country.  
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