Customs officials at Hazrat Shahjalal International airport recovered foreign currency worth Tk 75 lakh, 6 gold bars and 5 kg hemp in two separate incidents on Sunday.

Customs officials foiled a smuggling bid of foreign currency, which was kept hidden inside vegetables at the Cargo village of the airport.

Acting on a tip-off, officials of Dhaka customs house conducted a search inside the cargo village in the evening.

After searching, they recovered Saudi riyals worth Tk 1 crore, which were kept inside a consignment of vegetables at about 8:30 pm, said Joint Commissioner (Customs) Sohel Rahman.

The vegetables were kept in the cargo village to be exported to Malaysia. Gupalgonj International Ltd, a trading house, was trying to smuggle out the currency from the country in the name of vegetable export, said Rahman.

Earlier Customs officials challenged one Dulal Miah, 24, just after he landed in Dhaka on a Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur at about 12:00 pm.

Searching his body, the customs officials recovered 6 gold bars weighing about 600 grams, which were kept hidden in a unique way, said Assistant Commissioner (Customs) Riyadul.

However, the passenger was freed after seizing the gold bars as the quantity of gold was not that much, he added.

In another incident, customs officials seized 5 kg hemp from a piece of luggage after scanning it at departure Gate No-4 in the afternoon, and detained one person named Rajaul Karim in this regard.

He was scheduled to fly for Kuwait by an aircraft of Bangladesh Biman.

He was handed over to Narcotics department for legal procedure, said Joint Commissioner (Customs) Sohel Rahman.

UNB/RI