Authorities in Malawi are yet to comment on international news reports indicating that authorities in Bangladeshi have arrested a Malawian woman with around 8.5 kilograms of cocaine, the largest seizure of solid cocaine in the country.
According to reports, the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) in Bangladeshi arrested a 35-year-old Nomthandazo Towera Soko with the drugs, valued at around Tk 1 billion (Over 15 Trillion Malawi Kwacha), at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday.
Soko was planning to check into a residential hotel in Dhaka but was arrested before she could leave the airport, according to Tanveer Mumtaz, director of operations and intelligence at the DNC.
The DNC had initiated an operation two days ago based on a tip-off about a cocaine shipment arriving in Bangladesh.
The focus was on foreign passengers arriving from Africa on Qatar Airways flights. Soko drew suspicion due to the weight of her luggage.
Upon inspection, authorities found 1 kg of cocaine in a folder she was carrying and subsequently discovered another 8 kilograms of the drug wrapped in carbon paper hidden inside her luggage.
Soko has visited Bangladesh on several occasions as a shoe and garment trader, and came to the country this year under the same pretext.
Further investigations revealed the involvement of several local individuals and another foreign national in the smuggling operation.
 in Bangladeshi arrested a 35-year-old Nomthandazo Towera Soko with the drugs, valued at around Tk 1 billion (Over 15 Trillion Malawi Kwacha), at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday.){kind=link}