Liquid Cocaine Haul
Two more labs confirm
One suggests retesting contents of second barrel
Two more laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of liquid cocaine in one of the 107 barrels seized at Chittagong Port recently with one opining retesting contents of another barrel suspecting it too contains the contraband drug.
The confirmation letters from the labs of Criminal Investigation Department and the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) were received yesterday, the haul case's investigation officer, Md Kamruzzaman, also an assistant commissioner at the detective branch (DB), told The Daily Star.
Samples from the 107 were sent to the labs of the aforementioned two and to the Armed Forces Food and Drugs Laboratory on July 8 as per a court order.
The DNC suggested the retesting, said DB Additional Deputy Commissioner Tanvir Arafat, adding that they would seek the court's permission in this regard.
The initial confirmations came from the drug testing laboratory of the Directorate General of Drug Administration, and the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research where the samples were sent on June 8.
The barrels, with labels claiming the contents to be sunflower oil, arrived at the port on May 8 in a container shipped from Uruguay's Montevideo on being brought from Bolivia on a truck, according to investigators.
Customs officials sealed the container on June 6. Police filed a case with Bandar Police Station on June 27 under the narcotics control act and six persons have so far been arrested.