Staff Correspondent:

Customs intelligence officials detained a foreign female passenger with cocaine worth an estimated Tk130 crore at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital early on Tuesday.

The arrest took place at around 2:30am, when the passenger was apprehended upon arrival from a Qatar Airways flight.

Deputy Director of the Customs Intelligence Directorate, Sonia Akhter, confirmed the incident.

According to intelligence sources, Qatar Airways flight QR638, arriving from Doha, landed at Shahjalal Airport at 2:30am. Following the flight’s arrival, investigators identified the suspect — Karen Petula Staffl — seated in seat 30A.

After she completed immigration formalities, officers brought her, along with her baggage, to the green channel for scanning and inspection.

During the search, three plastic jars were found in her luggage. Inside the jars, officials recovered 22 egg-shaped foil-wrapped packages containing cocaine. The total weight of the confiscated cocaine was 8.66 kilograms, with an estimated market value of around Tk130 crore.

Preparations were underway to file both a criminal case under the Narcotics Control Act and a departmental case under customs law in connection with the incident, Authorities confirmed.