25kg gold bars seized at Bangladesh airport

Dhaka, Aug 6: At least 250 gold bars weighing 25 kg were seized by customs officials from a passenger of Singapore Airways flight at Dhaka airport, officials said on Sunday.

A customs official told Xinhua news agency that they detained Zamil Aktar, who posed as an ill person and tried to cross the green channel on a wheelchair, with the gold bars worth about 125 million taka ($1.54 million) on Saturday night.

The official said the gold bars, each weighing 100 grams, were found on Aktar's body during a search after the flight from Singapore landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here.

Sources said that organised gangs of local smugglers with links abroad have been increasingly using Bangladesh as a transit for contreaband gold, foreign currencies, drugs and medicines.