Customs officials at the Benapole land port intercepted an India-bound passenger attempting to smuggle two gold bars worth nearly Tk17 lakh by concealing them inside a tissue wallet hidden in his trouser pocket.
Acting on intelligence, customs officers placed the international departure area at the Benapole checkpost under surveillance on Wednesday evening.
At around 6pm, they stopped and questioned Md Mobarak Hossain, who was preparing to cross into India.
During questioning, the passenger admitted he was carrying two gold bars weighing 50 grams each.
A subsequent search led officials to recover the bars from a mini wallet wrapped inside a tissue packet and concealed in the back pocket of his trousers.
The seized gold weighed 100 grams and has an estimated market value of Tk16.98 lakh, according to customs officials.
Authorities later conducted an X-ray examination to determine whether the passenger had concealed any additional gold or metallic objects on his body. No further contraband was detected.
The gold bars were deposited in the Customs House Benapole’s bonded warehouse for valuable seized goods before the accused was handed over to Benapole Port Police Station following completion of the required legal formalities, the National Board of Revenue said in a statement on Thursday.
Customs authorities have filed a case under the Customs Act 2023 and other applicable laws over the attempted smuggling of gold bars from Bangladesh to India.
The seizure is part of ongoing intelligence-led enforcement at the country’s busiest land border crossing, where customs officials continue to monitor attempts to smuggle high-value goods across the frontier.
