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N Korean diplomat held with 27kg gold

FE Report | Saturday, 7 March 2015



Customs and security officials seized 27 kilograms (kg) of gold from a bag of a senior North Korean embassy official at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Thursday night.
The embassy official was identified as Son Yung, economic officer of North Korean Embassy in Dhaka.
He landed at the airport by a flight of the Singapore Airlines - SQ-446 - at around 11 pm on Thursday, according to officials.
Confirming the recovery, joint commissioner of customs Kazi Mohammad Ziauddin said based on information about gold smuggling their officials with the help of the Airport Armed Police (AAP) challenged the embassy official while he was crossing the green channel.
"We found 170 gold bars weighing 19 kg and gold ornaments weighing 8 kg from his handbag," he said, adding that market price of the seized gold was around Tk 135 million.
Later, Son Yung was handed over to the North Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Mun Song Ho around 2 pm because of his diplomatic immunity, ASP Nasreen of Airport Armed Police said.
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