A 35-year-old Malawian, woman Nomthandazo Towera Soko, has been found with 8.5 kilograms of Cocaine worth Tk 1 billion (K15 billion) in the country’s biggest ever seizure of solid cocaine.
Soko was detained by Bangladesh’ Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) after she was found with the drug at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday.
Soko was planning to check into a residential hotel in Dhaka but was arrested before she could leave the airport, Tanveer Mumtaz, director of operations and intelligence at the DNC, told news outlet bdnews24.
The DNC had initiated an operation focusing, on foreign passengers arriving from Africa on Qatar Airways, flights two days ago based on a tip-off about a cocaine shipment arriving in Bangladesh.
“Soko drew suspicion due to the weight of her luggage. Upon inspection, authorities found 1 kg of cocaine in a folder she was carrying and subsequently discovered another 8 kilograms of the drug wrapped in carbon paper hidden inside her luggage.
“Soko has visited Bangladesh on several occasions as a shoe and garment trader and came to the country this year under the same pretext,” bdnews24.
Further investigations revealed the involvement of several local individuals and another foreign national in the smuggling operation.
In Bangladesh, penalties for drug smugglers range from six months to life imprisonment, to the death penalty if the use, possession, or trafficking of drugs exceeds as little as: – 25 grams of heroin or cocaine; – 10 grams of morphine; – 2 kilograms of opium and derivatives.
