Sagar Biswas :
Bangladesh is being used as the safe transit route for trafficking cocaine to North American and Western European counties, intelligence sources said.
Although, Bangladesh is not a lucrative market for cocaine, the international drug syndicates are using the country as the route for smuggling the intoxicating drugs with the help of local crime rackets, they said.
“The seized liquid cocaine in the drum of sunflower oil at Chittagong Port has been brought using Bangladesh route in a bid to re-export it to the West Europe or North American countries via Singapore or Malaysia,” Director General of Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation [CII] Mainul Khan said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Chittagong Police filed a case on Saturday night against Chairman of Khan Jahan Ali Enterprise Nur Mohammad and its officer Golam Mostafa for their alleged involvement in importing liquid cocaine with edible oil through Chittagong Port.
Besides, many unnamed persons were included in the case. Police also detained Golam Mostafa under section 54 in connection with the smuggling.
“We have got some sensational information after quizzing Golam Mostafa. We have prayed to the court for his five days remand…….So far we assume, the consignment of cocaine was brought for other countries, not for Bangladesh,” Tanveer Arafat, Joint Commissioner, Chittagong Metropolitan Police, told The New Nation said on Sunday.
On the other hand, the CII has formed a three-member probe committee headed by Deputy Director Md Zakir Hossain to unearth the linkage between the international mafia gang and local drug syndicate for importing the cocaine using Bangladesh route. It is significant that the ‘edible oil’ has been imported here without any Letter of Credit [LC], its local importer’s identity was false, none claimed the ownership of consignment at Chittgong Port, and Bangladesh had never imported sunflower oil from Bolivia.
“The cocaine is not for Bangladesh. We haven’t the technology to convert the liquid cocaine to solid powder. Besides, there is no use of cocaine in Bangladesh,” DG of CII categorically said, adding that the cocaine usually comes from Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Columbia and some South American countries.
The existence of cocaine was confirmed after conducting tests at Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research [BCSIR] laboratory and Bangladesh Drug Testing Laboratory [BDTL].
Experts roughly valued the intoxicating drugs at Tk 100 crore. The Director General of Department of Narcotics Control [DNC] Bazlur Rahman, however, refrained from making any comment over the seized narcotics despite repeated attempts.
The experts are trying to find out alternative ways to know the actual amount of cocaine in the consignment. The CII sources said they are now contacting with the USA and the United Nation organization to get the technological support to know the actual amount of cocaine in the consignment.
Interestingly, it is not the first incident of cocaine recovery inn Bangladesh. The Detective Branch [DB] of police on January last year arrested six persons with six pounds of cocaine from the capital’s Nikunju.
DB officials seized the cocaine at Seeema Pharmacy located at Zaman Market in Nikunja while the narcotic was in the process of being sold. Joint Commissioner [DB] Monirul Islamhad said the six were arrested red handed with the cocaine, which is worth nearly Tk5 crore. “Director of Madina Pharmaceuticals Kamrul Alam and Spain expatriate Taher Mondol Zoba had smuggled the cocaine into Bangladesh through the Hajarat Shahjalal International Airport under the guise of importing raw materials for pharmaceutical products,” he had claimed.
After cannabis, cocaine is the most frequently used illegal drug globally. Between 14 and 21 million people use the drug each year. Use is highest in North America followed by Europe and South America, experts said.
Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant which are mostly grown in South America. In 2013, 419 kilograms were produced legally. It is estimated that the illegal market for cocaine is 100 to 500 billion USD each year, they added.
According to wikipedia, cocaine, also known as benzoylmethylecgonine, is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled, or injected into the veins. Effects begin within seconds to minutes of use and last between five and ninety minutes.
