Staff Reporter:

The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Department (CIID) has seized gold worth around Tk 37.5 million from a suspicious vehicle outside Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport.

The CIID said the driver, Md Shamim Mia, abandoned the vehicle and fled during the raid.

A CIID media statement on Monday said a suspicious vehicle was stopped for search near the roundabout outside the airport based on a secret tip-off.

Later, with the help of different intelligence agencies present at the spot, officers and employees of the Air Freight Circle of the CIID searched the vehicle.

At one stage, 14 gold bars and 12 gold sheets were recovered from the vehicle.

The total weight of the recovered gold was 1,812g. Customs detectives confirmed that the recovered gold was 24 carats after testing it at the Customs House Dhaka.

The market value of this gold is around Tk 37.27 million.

The CIID says that a more detailed search of the car revealed various items, including one new and two used mobile phones, Tk 107,585 in cash, a used laptop, eight debit and credit cards from different banks, two driver’s licences and a national identity card.

The CIID has completed an inventory of the recovered gold and other goods and materials at the Customs Hall.

The agency says that it is investigating who else is involved in the incident, where the massive haul was brought from and where it was being taken. A case is being processed against the person concerned in this incident at the Airport Police Station.

Airport Police chief Kamrul Hasan Talukder told bdnews24.com, “A case has not been filed over this incident yet. Once one is filed, we will be able to provide details on who the defendants are.”