The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) on Sunday detained three drug peddlers, including the mastermind behind a drug syndicate based in Cox's Bazar, from Dhaka's Demra area.
The arrestees are - Md Shafiq, 36, his ex-wife, TV artist and crime reporter Marioum Begum alias Sumi, 32, and Sumon Fakir, 38, said a press release.
Some 11,000 pieces of yaba and 110 grams of ice or crystal meth were recovered from their possession.
DNC has been conducting regular operations against organized drug dealers to create a “drug-free Bangladesh”, said the press release.
In continuation of this, two teams led by Md Mizanur Rahman, inspector of Motijheel Circle and Dewan Mohammad Zillur Rahman, inspector of Sutrapur Circle, were sent to Demra area on Sunday under the leadership of the Deputy Director of DNC (South) Md Masud Hossain.
Based on the information obtained from another arrestee - Chandan Roy - the alleged mastermind of an ice smuggling ring - the DNC team conducted the drive.
Md Shafiq was previously detained by the Detected Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) with 10,000 yaba pieces.
However, he was released on bail last August.
Later, Shafiq again started his ring with the help of his ex-wife Sumi, who is a journalist for online Jn24news.com, a member of Crime Reporters' Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) and a member of Bangladesh Film Artistes Association (BFAA).
During primary interrogation, Safiq said he was involved in yaba smuggling from Cox's Bazar to Dhaka in 2017.
After his second marriage to Sumi in 2020, he built a network for peddling yaba and ice in Demra area with her.
They used Sumi's journalist and TV artist identity to smuggle the drugs.
Separate cases will be filed with Demra and Jatrabari police stations under the Narcotics Control (Amendment) Bill 2020 against the detainees.
The minimum sentence for this offence is life imprisonment and the maximum sentence is death.
