Customs intelligence officials detained a foreign national with more than eight kilograms of cocaine at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka early on Tuesday.
A citizen of Guyana, Detainee Karen Petula Stuffle arrived in Dhaka from Doha by a Qatar Airways flight around 2:00am, according to a press release signed by Sonia Akter, deputy director of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID).
Acting on specific intelligence, a team from CIID in coordination with airport security agencies intercepted the passenger. During a search, officials found the cocaine in 22 oval-shaped objects hidden inside her luggage, the release said.
Karen Petula arrived in Bangladesh on a visa-on-arrival. According to CIID officials, the street value of the seized contraband is around Tk 130 crore.
The passenger was handed over to airport police after preliminary interrogation and legal proceedings are underway.
Previous incidents
Seizure of cocaine has grown in the country over the years.
In June 2023, an Indian national was arrested at the Dhaka airport with 1,800 grams of cocaine in her possession.
In 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion busted a gang of drug dealers who had 2kgs of cocaine in their possession.
In 2017, 750 grams of cocaine were seized from a FedEx parcel at the airport, which came from Uganda's Kampala via Dubai.
In 2015, Bangladesh anti-drugs officers seized 3 kilograms of cocaine from the Dhaka airport and arrested a foreign national on suspicion of smuggling.
In June 2015, at Chattogram Port, liquid cocaine from Bolivia was found concealed in sunflower oil drums shipped in a container.
In June 2013, a citizen of Peru was apprehended from a hotel in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar area with 3 kg of cocaine.
