Three drug dealers have been arrested along with 5.4kg of heroin worth around Tk 5.50 crore conducting drives at Kaliakoir in Gazipur and Naogaon districts.
They were arrested on Thursday night by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
RAB's Legal and Media Wing's director Khondker Al Moin disclosed it at a press conference at its office at Kawran Bazar in the capital on early Friday afternoon.
The RAB official said questioning the arrested persons, they have learnt that drug traffickers are bringing dangerous drug heroin worth crores of taka into Bangladesh from India. Usually, they use mobile banking for transactions of money for drug trafficking business.
The arrested were Md Shakibur Rahman, 35, his associate Mosammat Razia Khatun, 33, and wife Selina Khatun Shirina, 38.
RAB said Shirina is an associate of her husband in drug dealing activities. Shakib used to bring heroin from neighbouring India and used to keep a portion of it in his wife's possession at home. Selina used to supply heroin when drug peddlers go to their home to collect the drug according to their requirements.
Khondker Al Moin also said Razia is also one of the associates of Shakib. She has been involved in heroin selling around one year. She used to supply heroin to different districts of the country including Rajshahi, Bogura, Naogaon and Sirajganj. She has already supplied heroin visting different districts with Shakib riding his motorcycle. Like the past, she went off her home in Naogaon to supply heroin in Gazipur and Savar with Shakib. On their way, they were arrested by RAB from Kaliakoir in Gazipur district.
Khondker Al Moin said questioning the arrested persons, it is learnt that they used to bring four to five kilograms of heroin a month from the neighbouring India through Godagari border area in Rajshahi district using riverine routes. Shakib used women as a strategy to transport drug. There are 10 to 12 women active in their drug dealing gang.
According to the requirements from drug peddlers, they used to send 500-600 grams of heroin every month to different places in Bogura, Sirajganj, Gazipur, Jamalpur, Savar and Narayanganj districts. They used to provide Tk 15,000-20,000 to each woman for transporting each consignment. Shakib used to take the transporter on his own motorcycle if the consignment was bigger. As the consignment of heroin was more than 3kg on Thursday, Sakib was accompanying his associate.
Besides, Sakib told RAB about possessing another two kilograms of heroin at his Naogaon home. Later, RAB conducted a raid there and recovered 2kg of heroin from his wife Selina Khatun's possession.
Moreover, Sakib used passenger buses, launches and courier services to transport drug, RAB commander also said.
END/SZA
