The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has arrested an Indian national at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka with 4.28kg of kush allegedly concealed beneath Indian saris in his trolley bag.
The man was detained on Wednesday afternoon at the airport’s green channel in the arrival hall. A subsequent search of his trolley led to the recovery of the drugs.
The arrestee, Abhijit Das, 40, is a resident of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, India.
Authorities also seized an Indian passport, 2,160 Indian rupees, 70 Thai baht, a smartphone, a boarding pass and three Indian saris from him.
Deputy Director Md Rajiur Rahman of the DNC’s Dhaka Metro (North) office said a special team led by Dr Md Abu Saeed Mia, assistant director of the DNC’s airport office, took position at the green channel around 1pm following intelligence inputs.
Das, who arrived from Bangkok on Thai Airways flight TG 321, was detained on suspicion, he said.
Witnesses and representatives of various agencies at the airport searched the trolley, leading to the recovery of 4kg 280g of kush concealed beneath the clothes.
During preliminary interrogation, Das identified himself as a porter at Bongaon railway station in India, Rajiur Rahman said.
According to the DNC official, Das claimed that an international drug trafficking network operating across three countries recruits low-income people in India to transport drugs from Kolkata to Bangkok before being smuggled into Bangladesh.
A case has been filed against Das at the airport police station under the relevant provisions of the Narcotics Control Act, 2018, as amended in 2026.
Why it matters
The seizure uncovers an international drug trafficking network attempting to establish a narcotics market inside Bangladesh.