Airport Armed Police Battalion on Thursday detained three people with 397.7 grams of gold ornaments, eight mobile phones and three laptops at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The detainees were identified as Rabia Begum, 48, Akash Ahmed, 35, and Md Jalil, 46.

At around 2:50am, the three were allegedly found moving suspiciously on the ground floor of the airport's multi-storey car parking area. When they noticed the presence of police and attempted to flee, members of Airport APBn detained them.

A search of the detainees led to the recovery of 397.7 grams of gold ornaments, equivalent to around 36 bhori, eight mobile phones and three laptops, said the APBn.

During initial interrogation, the detainees reportedly said the gold, mobile phones and laptops had been brought into Bangladesh from different countries through unidentified passengers for smuggling purposes.

Police also said the detainees had allegedly been involved in gold smuggling at the airport for a long time.

A regular case was filed with Airport Police Station on Thursday against the three under Sections 25B(1)(b) and 25D of the Special Powers Act, 1974.

According to the case statement, the detainees allegedly acted in collusion with unidentified passengers to bring gold into the country illegally for smuggling purposes while evading government revenue.

Mohammad Nazir Ahmed Khan, Police Superintendent (Operations) of Airport APBn, said the unit was actively working to prevent crimes and smuggling at the airport.

“Airport APBn is committed to performing its duties professionally to prevent drug and gold smuggling. Our operations to prevent any kind of smuggling using the airport will continue,” he said.