Dhaka: The customs intelligence of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport detained an Indian passenger carrying around 500cartons of illegal foreign cigarette consignments on Tuesday night.

The detainee is Abdur Rahim, in his forties, a resident of Chennai in India’s Tamil Nadu.

The Customs Intelligence, Bangladesh on its website said being informed a team of customs officials conducted drive at a flight from Bangkok and challenged Abdur Rahim, who was standing near the luggage area in the custom hall. Later, the intelligence officials scanned his baggage and seized around 1lakh cigarettes at about 2:00am.

The market price of the cigarettes  would be approximately Tk 40 lakh, claimed the customs officials.

According to the import policy, bringing foreign-made cigarettes without anti-smoking warning labels is prohibited. The seized cigarettes do not have any anti-smoking warning.