London: A leading business tycoon of Bangladeshi-origin has been arrested on suspicion of trafficking vast quantities of heroin into Britain.
The arrest of Badruddoza Chowdhury Momen, Chairman of BD Foods Ltd, one of Bangladesh's most respected companies, follows an investigation in April, which revealed how consignments of food, floor tiles and beauty products, dispatched by a network of companies in Bangladesh were found to contain large amounts of the drug.
Momen is now in prison on remand and is being questioned about allegations that he smuggled about 948 kg of heroin to UK over the last 15 years and that he ran a lucrative drug distribution business out of UK to other EU states.
It is alleged that Momen was sourcing the heroin mainly from Pakistan, where he had an office.
His arrest came after a former senior employee within BD Foods, Nazmul Haider Bulbul, named him in court documents as the mastermind behind the long-running drug smuggling operation.
The tycoon's arrest has shocked the Bangladeshi business community. Momen was awarded the title of 'Commercially Important Person' by the Bangladesh government for his outstanding performance in export businesses for three years running.
His company employs 3,000 staff around the world.
A report published in The Observer stated that BD Foods had engaged a network of ghost companies for exporting heroin to UK.
The smuggling operation came to light after the British High Commission wrote to the Bangladesh government in 2005 asking it to investigate a number of firms that had dispatched heroin hidden in consignments of legitimate products to fake import companies in London.
Comments
0 comment