The government has taken a decision to send a team to help Sri Lankan authorities to investigate the haul of a large amount of drugs in Colombo last month.

On Dec 31, the Sri Lankan police arrested two Bangladeshis – Mohammad Jamal Uddin and Dewan Rafiul Islam – from Mount Lavinia hotel in Colombo and recovered 278 kgs of heroin and cocaine from their rented apartment. The Lankan police also arrested another female Bangladeshi, Surjomukhi on Dec 17 with 32 kgs of heroin. The total amount of recovered drugs is estimated at Tk 2 billion.

The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the foreign ministry Sunday, seven days after the incident. Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque chaired the meeting.

The meeting also decided to send a report to the Prime Minister’s Office notifying about the incident, said an official.

“It is alarming that one after another Bangladeshis are being held with huge amount of drugs in Sri Lanka,” said an official seeking anonymity.

“We need to know how the shipment took place and from whom they worked for”, he added.

Police have identified that Mohammad Jamal Uddin is from Bogura and Dewan Rafiul Islam from Joypurhat.

Another official seeking anonymity said, “Bangladesh should not be identified as drug transit country and for that we need to cooperate with Interpol and other international agencies.”

When asked whether the home ministry or law enforcing agencies reached out to the Bangladesh mission in Sri Lanka, High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah told Bangla Tribune that anybody from Dhaka is yet to get in touch with them on the matter.

Another official seeking anonymity said, the Sri Lankan authorities notified the Bangladesh focal point of transnational crime, but there was a delayed response.

“The Lankan authorities have made some queries and we responded to it,” he said.