Persistent theft and systemic fraud inside the secure customs warehouse at Benapole land port have compromised cargo security and disrupted trade through Bangladesh’s largest land border crossing. Official complicity has aggravated the insecurity, with the port registering 130 cases of fraud and theft in the first six months of 2026. Smugglers have even used the prime minister’s relief fund as a front to extract impounded goods. This breakdown in security has severely eroded business confidence, slowing trade momentum at the land port.
Data from the Benapole Customs House shows that the 130 incidents recorded between January and June include five criminal cases filed with the port police and 125 internal administrative cases under customs law. Following preliminary evidence linking clearing and forwarding agents to the network, customs authorities have revoked several operating licences.
An analysis of the first information reports in the five criminal cases implicates officials from both the land port and customs. Five customs officials are currently detained in connection with two of these cases, while two assistant revenue officers and three security guards have been temporarily suspended after initial evidence emerged against them. Senior customs officials said that internal investigations have intensified to expose the remaining members of the syndicate.
Control of the port’s single customs warehouse rests directly with the Benapole Customs House. Under standard operating procedure, the facility stores all unclaimed goods seized at the port, with usable consignments eventually transferred to the prime minister’s relief fund. A corrupt syndicate has used this official channel to mask its illicit operations.
This method was exposed on June 22 when a covered van left the customs warehouse, ostensibly transporting goods to the prime minister’s relief fund. Acting on an intelligence tip-off, the Jashore Battalion (49 BGB) intercepted and seized the vehicle at Benapole Bazar. The driver, his assistant and an assistant revenue officer at the Customs House, were detained after failing to produce valid transit documents. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered high-duty Indian sarees, three-piece suits and import-prohibited medicines, an escalation that has unnerved port users.
Investigators have since detailed an elaborate smuggling system where expensive sarees and cosmetics are misdeclared as baking powder to facilitate their extraction from the warehouse. Other operations involve transferring cargo directly from Indian to Bangladeshi trucks at the port gate. On June 25, the theft of 2,784 kg of goods was captured on CCTV, with the footage showing on-duty Ansar members and security guards standing idle. Several individuals now face charges over thefts from warehouse sheds 37 and 41.
“Every incident is being investigated seriously,” said Mohammed Fyzur Rahman, commissioner of Benapole Customs House. “Administrative and legal action will be taken against those responsible. Customs officials and employees found involved are facing departmental action and criminal charges.”
The commissioner alleged that warehouse superintendents were also complicit, adding that the customs house had repeatedly requested CCTV footage from the port authority in writing, “but in most cases we are not getting it.”
Port Director Md Shamim Hossain defended the port’s willingness to supply the footage but noted that the 418 CCTV cameras are operated by a third party. “It’s a technical matter. We need a specific time frame, so delays occur. But the port and customs are now coordinating to stop the theft. We aren’t shielding anyone, even from our own department.”
The operational friction continues to alarm the private sector. Matiar Rahman, managing director of port user Sarathi Logistics Ltd, said: “Revenue evasion and theft have completely broken business discipline at the port. Legitimate importers can’t rely on the security of goods stored at the port.”