Record 641kg smuggled gold seized

Officials likened 2014 to a 'golden year' as customs intelligence of Bangladesh alone had seized a record haul of 641 kilograms of smuggled gold during the bygone year, amid a boom in the clandestine trade.
The amount of gold, seized by Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID), is assumed to be less than 2.0 per cent of the total gold that glitters past cross-border channels.
Consignments of over 300-350 kilograms of gold reportedly get into India every day from Bangladesh side alone, apart from other countries bordering India.    
The three international airports, highways and waterways in Bangladesh are used by inter-country rackets, the official sources concerned said.
A World Gold Council report said that, in 2014, about 200-250 tonnes of gold could have been smuggled into India through her neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.
In the immediate-past calendar year, more than 109 tonnes of gold was smuggled to India, according to local experts.
According to a law-enforcement report, in 2014, more than 75 persons were arrested and 50 cases filed in connection with the smuggling of gold through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong (SAIA) and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet.
The CIID statistics showed the seizure of smuggled gold increased more than 23 per cent in 2014 from 520 kilograms in 2013.
In the last 2 years (2013-2014) the precious metal weighing more than one tonne or 1161 kilograms was smuggled. But in the previous nine years, from 2004 to 2012, the law-enforcers had seized only 17 kilograms of smuggled gold.
Moinul Khan, director-general of the CIID, coined an ironical nomenclature for the year as his intelligence agency saw a mind-boggling flow of gold in the trading underworld.
"2014 was a 'golden year'," he told the Financial Express Saturday.
The DG said in the last one year, the law-enforcement department had identified 27 local and international syndicates who are directly or indirectly involved in gold smuggling through the country's three international airports.
He said among the syndicates, seven at Dhaka airport, three at Chittagong airport and one at Sylhet airport were involved directly and the rest indirectly in gold smuggling.
Mr Khan said India is the second-largest gold consumer in the world, but, in recent years, the country raised import duty on gold that prompted a tremendous increase in smuggling.
He said they had observed that airway smugglers prefer alternative ways, including railway, road and waterway, for transporting the contraband consignments.
The CIID data showed from 2004 to 2007, the agency had seized no smuggled gold, in 2008 seized 2.50kg, in 2009 3.53, in 2010 4.30kg, in 2011 1.21kg and in 2012 5.56kg.
According to CIID statistics, from 2013 onward, smuggled gold seizure has seen tremendous growth as India raised import duty on gold from 2 per cent to 4 percent 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 precious metal.
A high officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a specialised wing of the Bangladesh Police, said always they had found a number of powerful smuggling syndicates, having connections with politicians, businessmen, and airport and civil aviation officials are involved in gold smuggling. But in recent times, the number has increased significantly.
"The syndicates are always using third person to carry the precious metal and the real smugglers always have been staying out of touch," he said.
He mentioned the 62 kgs of gold and huge amounts of foreign currencies seized few days back from Dhaka's Purana Paltan area and arrest of one Mohammad Ali in this connection.
According to a statement of the suspect, Mohammad Ali, the owner of the gold was a politico of Sirajganj.  
According to Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BJA), a platform of gold-ornament makers, per 10-gram gold costs about Tk 35,000 in Gulf countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and in Singapore. The metal sells at more than Tk 40,000 in India.
Dewan Aminul Islam Shahin, former general secretary of BJA, said the smugglers make a profit of Tk 0.8 million if they could smuggle 1.0kg gold to India as gold tax over there for every 10 gram is around Tk 4000 which is only Tk150 in Bangladesh.
He said a lucrative price gap between the Gulf countries and India and Bangladesh lures the luggage businessmen into the trans-border trade.
[email protected]