DHAKA Bangladesh's customs officers caught a North Korean diplomat trying to smuggle an estimated $1.4 million worth of gold into the country, a senior official said on Friday. 
 
 "We recovered the gold both in the form of bar and ornaments from Son Young Nam, the First Secretary of the North Korean Embassy in Dhaka," said Moinul Khan, the Director General of the Custom Intelligence department, adding the gold weighed about 27 kilograms in total. 
 
 The diplomat was released but Bangladesh is seeking to press charges. 
 
 Moinul told Reuters that the diplomat was passing through the green channel from Dhaka's international airport - Hazrat Shahjalal International airport - on a late arriving Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore. 
 
 The customs officials at the airport wanted to scan his hand luggage. 
 
 "He told our officials that there was nothing to scan," said Najibur Rahman, chairman of the National Board of Revenue. 
 
 "Later we informed our foreign ministry and he was released on Friday under the Vienna Convention," Najibur told Reuters. 
 
 A case has been filed against him with the customs department, Moinul said. "We have also initiated the process to file a criminal case against him." 
 
 The official said that in recent months the smuggling of gold increased mainly from Dubai, but this was the first instance of a diplomat carrying gold. 
 
 The North Korean government will be informed soon and further action will be taken through government channels, Moinul said. 
 
 (Reporting By Serajul Quadir; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) 

 Bangladeshi authorities said they intercepted a North Korean envoy who arrived at Dhaka’s international airport with 27 kilograms of gold—worth an estimated $1.4 million—in his carry-on bag. 
 
 Customs officials said they seized the gold and detained the diplomat, who they identified as Son Young Nam, a first secretary at the North Korean embassy in the Bangladeshi capital, on Thursday. Mr. Son was released Friday, they said. 
 
 Sales...
– You and I can't get away with a 5-ounce bottle of shampoo at the airport, but a North Korean diplomat apparently thought the 27 kilograms of gold in his carry-on—worth about $1.4 million—was no big deal. Bangladesh would beg to differ, reports the Wall Street Journal. "We recovered the gold both in the form of bar and ornaments from Son Young Nam, the First Secretary of the North Korean Embassy in Dhaka," said a top official, per Reuters. Son was detained and released, but Bangladesh seized his treasure and is looking to press criminal charges in addition to the customs complaint already filed. Both Reuters and the Journal note that Bangladesh has lately become a hub for illegal gold smuggling; the Journal adds that Pyongyang has long leaned heavily on the sales of gold to support the posh lifestyle of its leadership.