Customs officials on Sunday seized diamond-studded gold and platinum jewellery, precious stones and other items worth an estimated Tk 2.7 crore from a passenger arriving from Kolkata at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
The seizure was made at around 8:30pm on when the passenger, identified as MD Jony Rahman, was crossing the green channel without declaring his baggage, according to a press release issued by Dhaka Customs House on Sunday.
Acting on a tip-off about a possible gold smuggling attempt, a preventive team of Dhaka Customs House and officials on duty at the airport kept watch at different points.
During baggage scanning, officials detected metal objects inside a jar of pickles. A subsequent inspection led to the discovery of the jewellery and other items, which had been brought into the country without a baggage declaration.
The seized items included 389 diamond-studded gold rings weighing 478 grammes, 151 diamond-studded platinum rings weighing 450 grammes, three pieces of diamond-studded white gold weighing six grammes, two diamond-studded silver rings weighing eight grammes, five diamond-studded gold lockets weighing four grammes, and a diamond-studded gold chain weighing five grammes.
