Customs Intelligence and Customs House officials seized 22,99,500 Saudi riyal — equivalent to Tk 6 crore – at Dhaka airport on Wednesday night.
Customs’ deputy commissioner Abdus Sadek said that the passenger, Mamun Khan, checked in the luggage for the Dubai-bound flight EK 585 of Emirates Airlines at about 9:30pm on Wednesday but left the airport without the immigration formalities.
He said that the customs officials identified the presence of the Saudi currency note during screening and tried to identify its owner.
The customs officials along with the aviation security personnel opened the luggage and found the 22,99,500 Saudi riyal wrapped up in 31 shirts.
Sadek said that they were checking the background of the passenger and preparing a case against him with the Airport Police Station.
‘Since January, he has travelled to Dubai 14 times,’ said the customs official.
In June, the airport officials seized a total of $2.30 lakh from a Turkish national and an elderly woman.
In September 2021, they checked a shipment and found foreign currencies worth Tk 12.51 crore, including 54 lakh Saudi riyal and 20,200 Singapore dollar.
In October 2021, two Dubai-bound Bangladeshi passengers — Jewel, 36, from Brahmanbaria, and Golam Rabbani, 46, from Cumilla — were arrested at the same airport with six lakh Saudi currency in their possession.
The duo was held before their flight on the Gulf Air. They were traveling to Bahrain to finally end up in Dubai, according to police.
The airport officials said that they suspected the Dubai-bound passengers of being linked to gold smuggling.
– With New Age input
