Foreign cigarettes worth around Tk 3 million recovered at Chattogram Airport

Customs authorities have recovered a huge quantity of foreign cigarettes in a joint operation at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram. A total of 440 cartons of foreign cigarettes were seized in the operation conducted jointly by Customs Intelligence, Airport Customs Branch and NSI Chittagong. The estimated market value of which is around Tk 2.98 million.

The operation was conducted at around 2 am on Wednesday (December 31). Customs sources said that a flight arriving from Dubai landed at Shah Amanat International Airport shortly before this at 9:52 pm. During a suspicious baggage search around the flight, 200 cartons of foreign cigarettes were recovered from the luggage of a passenger named Minhajul Karim Sajeeb, a resident of Fatikchhari Upazila in Chattogram.

At the same time, the customs authorities identified and seized another 240 cartons of foreign cigarettes that were left abandoned on the luggage belt of the international arrival hall. As a result, the total number of cigarettes recovered in the operation stood at 440 cartons.

Customs officials said that a total of Tk 29 lakh 80 thousand has been determined as revenue against the recovered cigarettes. Of this, Tk 7 lakh has been determined as revenue from 200 cartons of cigarettes found in the passenger's baggage and Tk 22 lakh 80 thousand has been determined as revenue from 240 cartons of cigarettes recovered in abandoned condition.

In this regard, Shah Amanat International Airport Public Relations Officer Engineer Ibrahim Khalil said that the consignment of cigarettes recovered from the passenger has been seized at the Departmental Memorandum (DM) price and kept in the custody of the Chittagong Customs House. Similarly, the consignment of abandoned cigarettes recovered from the luggage belt has also been kept in the custody of the Customs.

He further said that the passenger detained in this incident has been released after being verbally warned by the airport customs branch.