Dhaka Customs House seized three egg-shaped gold packets hidden in a passenger’s rectum at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after a tip-off about an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah. Acting on the tip-off received at 6:30 am, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said intelligence officers began surveillance and identified passenger Arman Uddin Siddique upon his arrival. Officers searched him at baggage belt‑2 after immigration and recovered the three white‑taped objects from his rectum. The NBR press release said the gold was shaped into round paste forms, each piece weighing 430 grams, totalling 1,290 grams of 24‑carat gold. Refining the paste could yield about 1,000 grams of usable gold, valued at approximately Tk 1.74 crore. Dhaka Customs House said it is preparing to file a criminal case against the passenger, according to the NBR.
Why it matters
The seizure highlights ongoing challenges in preventing gold smuggling through Bangladesh’s key international gateway.