DHAKA, Dee. 12, Reuter: Bangladesh customs officers said they did not suspect 21yearold Australian Darren Chambers when he arrived at Dhaka ‘airport until they noticed his awkward gait.
The officers found no illegal goods during a routine search of ‘Chambers’ baggage after he got off a flight from Bangkok in July.
They then led the Sydney student into a private room, pumped his stomach full of and waited for him to move his bowels.
He produced three lumbs of gold, each weighing about three pounds (1.3 kg) and worth a total ‘of about 65,000 US. dollars, officials said
“This is how the smugglers carry god these days. Traditional methods such as concealing it in waistbands, false shoe soles and underwear are obsolete. So we have to be a little innovative too”, Kazi Anwar Hussain, Director of Customs Intelligence, told Reuters
“According to official figures, Bangladesh customs officers have seized 5.1 million dollars’ worth of gold during the past two years, ‘most of it smuggled from Hong Kong and Dubai where trade in bullion is not restricted.
Officials say most of the gold is seized at Dhaka airport where they have already found nearly one million dollars’ worth this year. But some is also confiscated at the country’s seaports or its border with India.
Bangladesh has arrested 155 people for gold smuggling since January 1984, Among those in custody awaiting trial are 36 foreigners Including two Australians, a British. a West German and several Thais and Nepalese
A special tribune last month sentenced Chambers and Thai women Dornnadee Panjart and Banjuta Sein to life imprisonment, the maximum penalty for gold smuggling.
In June, Birton Edward Mann and Singaporean Ho Pek Luan were jailed for seven years each with hard labour.
The government stepped up its drive against smuggling last month following intelligence reports that Bangladesh was becoming a major conduit for gold. President Hussain Mohammad
Ershad ordered a “merciless crackdown on smuggling and gave police wide ranging powers to search houses and arrest suspected offenders.
“Let me tell you frankly that shall no longer tolerate any letup in the anti-smuggling drive. The ‘smugglers or anyone having sympathy for them will be equally treated as enemies of the nation and punished accordingly”, Ershad told senior customs and police officials. The officials said the President had asked lawmakers to consider introducing death sentences for those found guilty of smuggling ‘gold or narcotics.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 19, 1986
