Customs detectives have arrested a woman from the Caribbean country of Guyana, Karen Pitula Staffley, with cocaine worth Tk 1.3 billion at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Selina Akhter, Deputy Director of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (Shahjalal Airport), confirmed the information on Tuesday. She said he was arrested around 2am on Monday.

He said, "Based on information that a woman was coming to Bangladesh with a large amount of cocaine on a flight from Doha, Qatar, we issued an alert at the airport. Later, when the woman crossed the green channel with an on-arrival visa, we detained her and searched her. At one point during the search, 3 plastic boxes were found. And inside the boxes, 22 pieces of oval-shaped cocaine wrapped in foil paper were found."

Customs intelligence officials said that two SIs from the Airport Police Station and members of other intelligence agencies were present during the inventory and initial examination. The weight of the cocaine found was 8.6 kg, with an estimated market value of around Tk 130 crore. The passenger along with the goods has been detained.

Deputy Director Selina Akhter also said that preparations are underway to file a departmental case under the Criminal and Customs Act on charges of smuggling in this regard.