Customs intelligence officials have seized goods including including a gold bar, alcohol, cosmetic injections, worth an estimated Tk 3.23 crore in four separate drives at Dhaka and Chattogram airports over two days.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) conducted the operations on Thursday and Friday at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and the foreign post office at Dhaka airport, a CIID press release issued on Saturday.
At Shah Amanat International Airport, customs intelligence officials recovered a 117-gram gold bar from passenger Abdullah Al Noman, who arrived from Dubai on Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on Wednesday.
On the same day, officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport seized 30 litres of alcohol worth an estimated Tk 6 lakh in separate operations.
On Friday ,customs intelligence officials seized 155 dermal fillers and skin booster injections from the baggage of passenger Md Rakib Hossain, who arrived from Colombo on SriLankan Airlines flight UL189 at 11:13am.
The seized products included Restylane Lidocaine, Restylane Lyft Lidocaine, Juvederm Voluma with Lidocaine and Profhilo, which are used in cosmetic procedures to reduce wrinkles and improve skin appearance.
The products were valued at Tk 57.76 lakh.
The CIID said the legality of the products’ import and their regulatory approvals were being examined.
It said administering such injections without proper medical supervision could cause infections, blocked blood vessels, permanent skin damage and, in severe cases, loss of vision.
In a separate operation at the foreign post office at Dhaka airport, customs officials seized 37 cartons containing 1,104kg of banned Gauri skin-whitening cream and 23 used Core i5 laptops.
The seized goods were valued at Tk 2.38 crore, according to the release.
The CIID said it would continue surveillance and anti-smuggling operations at international airports, seaports, land ports and other customs stations to prevent revenue evasion, protect public health and safeguard consumer interests.