3 held with Tk5cr heroin

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three members of a gang along with 5.4kg heroin worth around Tk 5 crore in Gazipur’s Kaliakair area and Naogaon on Thursday night.

The arrestees are ringleader Shakibur Rahman, 35, his wife Selina Khatun Shirina, 38, and Razia Khatun, 33, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB’s Legal and Media Wing, at a press conference on Friday.

“RAB came to know after primary interrogation that the gang smuggles four to five kilogrammes of heroin into Bangladesh every month via waterways from neighbouring countries through Rajshahi’s Godagari border. They use women to transport drugs,” he said.

Moin said the ring has 10-12 women actively involved in drug trade. “They used to send 500-600 grams every day to different districts, including Bogura, Sirajganj, Gazipur, Jamalpur, Narayanganj, and Savar.”

The ringleader used to pay Tk 15,000-20,000 to the carrier for each shipment while the heroin sale money would usually be transacted through mobile banking, said the RAB official.

“Shakibur would sometimes use his own motorcycle to transport drugs when the volume was high. As the shipment we seized was over 3kg, he accompanied the carrier. RAB found another 2kg heroin in his Naogaon home after interrogation,” Moin said.

He said Shakibur had been involved in thefts earlier but had been dealing in drugs for about two years.

“They used to deliver heroin to different parts of the country, especially the northern districts and Dhaka. But we have got no information about the ring smuggling drugs outside Bangladesh.”