A foreign national was arrested at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Sunday night with 8.5 kg of cocaine, worth an estimated Tk 130 crore.
The individual, identified as M S Karen Petula Stafel from Guyana, was detained by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID).
According to a press release issued by the CIID on Tuesday, the arrest followed a tip-off received late on Sunday. The intelligence indicated that a Qatar Airways flight from Doha was arriving in Dhaka, and one of the passengers might be involved in drug trafficking. Based on this information, customs officials at Shahjalal Airport were alerted and took precautions.
The Qatar Airways flight landed at around 2:30 am, and customs officers quickly identified the passenger. Upon further inspection, customs officials scanned Stafel’s baggage, which revealed 22 egg-shaped packets wrapped in foil paper. These packets contained cocaine.
The cocaine was recovered in the presence of officials from various intelligence agencies. The Directorate of Drug Control’s Airport Unit later confirmed through testing that the substances were indeed cocaine.
The press release also mentioned that Petula Stafel is in the process of being handed over to the Airport Police Station, and a case is being initiated against him.