False-Declaration Imports Keep Rising at Chattogram Port: 467 Shipments Seized in Three Months, Tk 58 Crore Collected

Imports through Chattogram port under false declarations are on the rise. In the first three months (July–September) of the current 2026-27 fiscal year, Chattogram Custom House seized 467 import shipments on suspicion of false declaration. A total of 270 cases were filed over these incidents, and Tk 58.02 crore was collected in revenue and fines. Port sources say many importers are resorting to ever-new tricks to pay less revenue.

According to the Customs Audit, Investigation and Research (AIR) wing, the number of shipments seized in the first three months of this fiscal year is 29.4 percent higher than in the same period last year. In the first three months of 2025-26, customs seized 361 shipments, filed 199 cases and collected Tk 31.07 crore in revenue and fines.

In the first quarter of the year before that, 2024-25, customs seized 167 shipments and filed 228 cases, collecting Tk 27.44 crore. In other words, both seizures and collections have risen steadily over three years.

In September alone, Chattogram Custom House seized 168 shipments. Of these, 139 shipments underwent 100 percent physical examination; 55 were found to be in order, while irregularities were detected in 84.

The full-year picture for 2025-26 is also large. That year the AIR wing seized 1,451 shipments in total and filed cases over irregularities in 843 of them, collecting Tk 52.08 crore in revenue and Tk 59.63 crore in fines—Tk 111.72 crore altogether.

Customs officials say false declarations are usually made through wrong tariff classification, under-reporting the quantity or value of goods, and hiding one product behind another with lower duty. Recently detected irregularities include importing machinery and luxury cars declared as scrap, bringing in cosmetics declared as modelling clay, hiding mobile phones behind other goods, and importing fabrics under false declarations.

Mohammad Sharif Al Amin, assistant commissioner and spokesperson of Chattogram Customs, said imports under false declarations through the port have increased, and monitoring has been strengthened to catch such shipments. He said the customs department is reinforcing digital surveillance and coordination with other agencies, and that alongside AIR, the Customs Intelligence and the National Board of Revenue's central intelligence unit are working at the port to detect false-declaration shipments.

Mohammad Ismail Khan, a director of the Chattogram Chamber and a member of the Chattogram Custom Association, said organised gangs are sometimes behind false declarations. He urged customs authorities to take tougher action against importers who deliberately file false declarations, but cautioned that legitimate trade must not be harmed by excessive strictness.