At Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, 102 mobile phones were seized a search revealed them to be hidden on the bodies of four women.
The incident occurred on Monday morning after four suspicious passengers were searched, having arrived on a flight from Dubai via Chattogram.
Airport Thana Police stated that intelligence agencies at the airport had prior information regarding the four passengers. Members of Airport Customs, Avsec, and the Air Force jointly kept all passengers inside the flight under special surveillance.
During the crossing of the Green Channel, searches were conducted and 35 iPhone 17 Pro Maxes, 55 iPhone 15s, and 12 Google Pixels (102 mobile phones) were found hidden in a special manner on the bodies of four female passengers (Samia Sultana, Shamima Akter, Jannat Begum, and Nusrat).
Later, as the passengers could not provide any information about the phones, Customs detained 98 mobile phones. Their estimated market value is Tk1.76 crore.
A case has been filed regarding the incident. Dhaka Customs Commissioner Mashiuar Rahman confirmed the matter to TIMES of Bangladesh.
Multiple airline officials have claimed that smugglers often smuggle gold, mobile phones, and cigarettes through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Such activities occur more frequently on flights arriving in Dhaka from Dubai and Sharjah.
As airport customs and other agencies have searched them at various times, the smugglers have changed their tactics. On flights from Dubai and Sharjah that arrive via Chattogram, the smugglers board some of their own people from Chattogram to travel to Dhaka, and they transfer gold and mobile phones strategically inside the aircraft itself.
