Customs officers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) have caught four passengers across three international flights attempting to smuggle cigarettes, vapes, and mobile phone displays worth an estimated Tk17,45,500.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) carried out the operation on Sunday after its airport B-Shift team received confidential information and placed suspect passengers under special surveillance.
Officers intercepted the first passenger, Abdul Karim, as he crossed the Green Channel after arriving from Dubai on Emirates Airlines flight EK584. A search and inventory of his suspicious baggage revealed 223 cartons of foreign cigarettes.
On the same day, officers searched the luggage of passenger Shepon, who arrived from Malaysia on AirAsia flight AK71, seizing 44 vapes.
In a third recovery, officials intercepted passengers arriving from Guangzhou on US-Bangla Airlines flight BS326.
Searches yielded 98 mobile displays from passenger KM Tofail Ahmed and 46 mobile displays from passenger Shamima Akter, bringing the total recovered from the flight to 144 mobile displays.
The directorate is viewing the carrying of contraband across three separate international routes on a single day with serious concern.
Authorities confirmed that an investigation will be launched to determine whether an organised syndicate is operating behind the scenes, whether the passengers were being used as carriers, and who is directing the smuggling ring.
