DHAKA: The Bangladesh Customs Intelligence seized a BMW car, which has been brought to Bangladesh using the ‘Carnet de Passage’ facility that allows tourists to enter one country from another with their vehicles without paying duties.
The blue 525-i, seized from the capital’s Gulshan, has a false registration number, officials say.
The owner, businessperson Rukhsana Ameer, did not cooperate with the officials, when they conducted the operation on Mar 30, Moinul Khan, chief of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID), said.
The seizure came after Bangladesh Road Transport Authority confirmed that the car’s documents were forged, the CIID chief said. He said formal charges would be pressed under Customs and Money Laundering Acts after the investigation.
A cartel is engaged in selling those vehicles with forged documents and false number plates and craft ways for people to dodge tariffs.
CIID has seized about 50 luxury cars since it launched a crackdown last year, Khan said.
Tourists can enter Bangladesh with their cars without paying duty under the ‘Carnet de Passage’ facility, but the duty has to be paid if the car is not taken out of the country after the time for the facility expires.
