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The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has arrested all members of an organized online shisha supply network and seized 65.9 kilograms of shisha tobacco along with 41 hookahs, the largest single shisha seizure in Bangladesh’s history.
The information was disclosed at a press conference on Friday by Mohammad Badruddin, Additional Director (Intelligence) of the DNC.
He said a coordinated special operation in the capital’s Gulshan and Bhatara areas led to the arrest of three suspects, including two brothers identified as the ringleaders of an inter-district online narcotics network.
“This is the largest quantity of shisha ever seized in a single operation in Bangladesh and marks a significant milestone in the DNC’s anti-narcotics campaign,” he said.
According to Badruddin, the DNC had received intelligence that two brothers, Ahmed Sharifi (34) and Mehdad Sharifi (34), had been operating a Facebook page through which they had been selling and distributing illegal shisha tobacco and related accessories across Dhaka and other parts of the country for a long time.
Acting on the tip-off, DNC officials raided the Bashundhara area under Bhatara Police Station on July 2 and intercepted a parcel containing 1kg of shisha sent through a domestic courier service. On the same day, another parcel containing 1kg of shisha, sent under the same Facebook page from Malibagh in Ramna, was also seized.
After verifying the sender’s address, DNC officers raided a rented apartment in Kalachandpur under Gulshan Police Station later that day and arrested the two brothers red-handed.
Based on their confessions and further interrogation, officers searched the apartment and recovered an additional 45.9kg of shisha and 20 hookahs.
The DNC later traced another supplier, Md. Maksud Alam (40), who lived in the Noorchala area under Bhatara Police Station. He was arrested during a night-time raid on his rented apartment, where officers recovered another 18kg of shisha and 21 hookahs.
In total, the four coordinated raids resulted in the seizure of 65.9kg of shisha tobacco, 41 hookahs, 40kg of charcoal used for smoking shisha, Five mobile phones allegedly used in the illegal business
Badruddin said the investigation revealed that the two brothers had lived in Iran for an extended period, where they gained experience in the shisha trade, including its marketing and distribution systems.
After returning to Bangladesh, they replicated the same business model by establishing an online shisha sales network that gradually expanded across the country.
According to investigators, they launched one of Bangladesh’s earliest Facebook pages dedicated to online shisha sales.
The page was used to communicate with customers, display products, receive orders, set prices and coordinate deliveries. Once orders were confirmed, the products were shipped to customers nationwide through domestic courier services.
The DNC said the group primarily received payments through various mobile financial services (MFS).
Preliminary findings indicate that they used multiple MFS accounts registered under different individuals’ names to conceal the origin of transactions and the identities of the beneficiaries.
Digital forensic experts are now examining the financial transactions, linked accounts and money trails.