Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has recovered cocaine, worth Tk60 crore, from the capital’s Gulistan and Konapara areas.
Confirming the matter to Dhaka Tribune Wednesday, Maj Shahriar, second-in-command of RAB 10, said: “The operation was conducted at two places in Dhaka based on intelligence information on Tuesday.
“A total of six members of a drug smuggling ring were held with 2kgs of cocaine during the operation. As many as nine mobile phones and Tk2,260 in cash were also seized from their possession.”
“Upon testing, we found out that the seized drugs are crystallized cocaine. However, it normally comes in a powder form,” he added.
The arrestees have been identified as Sultan Hasan, 50, Uday Das, 52, Hannan, 35, Uzzal, 28, Palash Dey, 58, and Firoz Alam Khan, 50.
“During primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed that they are professional drug dealers and have been operating in Dhaka and its adjacent areas for a long time,” added Maj Shahriar.
He said: “We are suspecting that they are members of an international cocaine smuggling ring.”
Earlier in February, RAB destroyed 370 litres of liquid cocaine smuggled into the country through Chittagong port from Bolivia camouflaged as sunflower oil in 2015.
RAB said that the huge consignment of liquid cocaine was worth around Tk9,000 crores.
According to law enforcement agencies, as there is little consumption of cocaine in Bangladesh, the country is being used as a transit route for international drug smuggling.
Several international drug cartels use Bangladesh as a safe route for smuggling cocaine to Europe and South-East Asia taking advantage of the lack of modern drug detection facilities, they added.