Illegal cigarettes worth Tk15 lakh seized at Dhaka airport

A man has been detained for illegally importing cigarettes worth an estimated Tk15.5 lakh including tax, at the Shahjalal International Airport.

Md Belal, flying in from Dubai on a Kuwait Airways flight on early Saturday, had brought 51,000 cigarettes, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) said.

The seized cigarettes included 200 cartons Mond, 41 cartons of 303 and 14 cartons of Benson & Hedges. Bangladesh prohibits importing foreign-made cigarettes that do not have anti-smoking warning written in Bangla on the packets.

CIID officials said the seized cigarette packets did not have warning written in Bangla. They said they suspected the man had smuggled the products to evade high tariff (nearly 450%) on cigarette.