Carrying gold of Tk 500 crore: carriers get arrested, masterminds move freely

The gold worth 1, 77, 32,961 rupee was carried by Ripon, a young man, just for getting Tk 500 in exchange of smuggling it. The gold was to send to an Indian black marketer. However, he got detained by BSF before his operation was completed, and the gold found in his possession was confiscated. The confiscated gold and the detainee were handed over to the Tetulia Customs office of Chabbish Pargana district of India, said BSF. The ‘tiny-fry’ carrier like Ripon was arrested, but the ‘big fish’ mastermind behind these kinds of smuggling moves freely.

According to the authorities concerned, smuggled gold is entering Bangladesh from Middle Eastern countries. Again, these gold are being smuggled from Bangladesh to neighboring India. International airports of Bangladesh have been chosen as safe routes by gold smugglers. Sometimes through the anus, sometimes by making gold eggs or putting it inside the nebulizer machine, gold is being smuggled through the airport. And in these cases the carrier is arrested. There are people of various professions including expatriates, air crew, pilots among the carriers. Even though police cases have been filed against the carriers involved in smuggling, there is no visible progress. The masterminds are always out of touch with the influence of money. Even though cases have been filed in these incidents, the masterminds have not been identified. Those who are greedy for money and carry gold are the ones who lose their jobs and stay in jail.

It has been reported that 24 gold bars were recovered from Border Chowki Govardha of North Chabbish Pargana district under 102 Battalion of South Bengal Frontier on Wednesday at 6:30 pm, the estimated value of which is 1,77, 32, 961 rupees. According to the BSF, a person was crossing the Bangladesh border and entered India. As his movements were suspicious, he was chased and arrested. 24 gold bars were found in his possession. According to information provided by BSF, the arrested Ripon Hasan's is a resident of Baikari village in Satkhira. During interrogation, Ripon said that he received the gold from a Bangladeshi citizen named Hasan Gazi around 5:40 pm on Wednesday. It was supposed to be delivered to an Indian smuggler. Ripon was supposed to get just Tk 500 as remuneration for this task.

According to the concerned sources, under the new rules, a passenger from abroad can bring a gold bar weighing 117 grams after paying duty. When expatriates from Middle Eastern countries, especially Dubai, return home, they bring gold bars. According to related sources, smugglers lure expatriates in various ways to take gold bars to Bangladesh in various places including Bangladeshi-populated areas, airports, shopping malls in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. They agreed to pay Tk 8-10 thousand for carrying a bar. Many expatriates fall into such greed and bring with them smuggled gold worth Tk of several crores. Many of them were arrested; however the Smugglers didn’t pay heed to it.

Talking to these expatriate passengers, it is known that gold is coming to Bangladesh from Dubai every day. These gold are carried by passengers, but after reaching the country, they go into the hands of merchants. Talking to some gold carriers in Dubai, it is known that many expatriates come to Dubai from Bangladesh on visit or tourist visa. They don't get jobs because they don't have visas. Even if they get a job, they get a very low salary because they have a tourist visa. Gold traders target these expatriates, allure them with money and hire them as agents. These verbally recruited expatriates roam around Bangladeshi-dominated areas and tourist spots in Dubai. When they meet Bangladeshi tourists, they offer to take gold saying 'Bhai Bar Neben'. This is how common people fall into the trap.

(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on March 1 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan)