BD customs hit gold bonanza in unlikely places
 

DHAKA: Bangladesh detectives hit the jackpot when they stopped Mohammed Belal at Chittagong airport carrying some surprising excess baggage.

Under questioning, the 37-year-old admitted he had a dozen chunks of gold weighing 1.4 kilograms, or three pounds, stashed in his rectum.

Gold smuggling in Bangladesh is at a record high, officials say, with the country emerging as a major route into neighbouring India, which has slapped high taxes on gold imports.

Authorities have seized 1.1 tonnes of the precious metal at airports in the past three years -- an unprecedented haul.

Investigators believe it is the tip of a golden iceberg. They say it is bought by jewellers or smuggled into India, the world´s biggest buyer of gold, and is also bankrolling a booming trade in ***** and illegal cattle.

As monitoring has been stepped up, barely a day passes without a**ther seizure.

Detectives on Wednesday discovered 13 stone-sized gold tablets hidden in the wig of a 45-year-man as he passed through Dhaka´s international airport.

Smugglers are increasingly resorting to more drastic methods to evade detection, officials say.

"Hiding gold bars in electronic appliances, wheelchairs or in toys has become old tactics. **w they are increasingly using their rectum to carry gold," Moinul Khan, Bangladesh´s customs intelligence chiefsaid.

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