Bangladesh’s narcotics department kit unable to detect liquid cocaine?

Questions have been raised about the accuracy of the drug testing kit that failed to detect liquid cocaine in a barrel at Chittagong Port last month.

The kit along with 59 more was developed by the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) at its own laboratory in Dhaka in May, said Dulal Krishna Saha, chief chemist of DNC.

The field-level staff of the DNC use the kits to detect contraband drugs.

Dulal, who was present during the test at the port on June 8, said they followed the guideline set by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to develop the drug testing kits.

Each kit costs around Tk 5,000 to Tk 7,000. Chemicals used as reagents in the kits are imported from abroad, he added.

Customs Intelligence in Chittagong had sent samples of the seized liquid to two government laboratories in Dhaka for retesting. The tests found the liquid to be positive for cocaine.

The DNC's failure in detecting the liquid cocaine has raised worries whether it is capable of fighting drug smuggling.

The cocaine was found mixed in 185 kg liquid inside a barrel. It arrived at the port from Bolivia via Uruguay along with 106 barrels of sunflower oil on May 8. The container carrying the consignment was seized on June 7, said Customs Intelligence sources.

Talking with The Daily Star yesterday, Pranab Kumar Neogi, director of operations and intelligence of DNC, admitted the limitations in their field-level tests.

“We learnt about liquid cocaine only after the seizure of the barrel at Chittagong Port,” he said.

Law enforcers from different agencies said this was the first haul of liquid cocaine in the country.

According to media reports, international drug cartels have been using innovative tactics to smuggle illegal drugs into different countries.

Smugglers use some chemicals in liquid drugs so that it is not detected at field level, said Zakir Hossain, deputy commissioner of Customs Intelligence in Chittagong.

Customs Intelligence officials said they learnt about liquid cocaine a few months ago when the Canadian customs seized 310-kg of cocaine aboard a ship from Bolivia.

Four people have been arrested so far in connection with the seizure of the liquid cocaine. The four were involved in either re-exporting or sending the consignment back to Uruguay after failing to release it at Chittagong Port, added the officials.