By Skandha Gunasekara A special team of Bangladeshi Police investigators are to arrive in Sri Lanka in the coming weeks to assist local authorities in investigations into a key heroin smuggling ring involving a Bangladeshi national. Director of the Police Narcotics Bureau SSP T.C.A. Dhanapala told The Sunday Morning that the Police Narcotics Bureau contacted the Bangladeshi Department of Narcotics Control, through the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk, seeking assistance in apprehending a major player in the international heroin trade between the two countries. “This Bangladeshi woman has been visiting Sri Lanka since 2007 and has been orchestrating various smuggling rings since then,” Dhanapala said, adding that the suspect last visited the country in December, 2018. Sri Lanka’s Narcotics Bureau sought the assistance of its Bangladeshi counterpart after two Bangladeshi women were caught in Dehiwala on 31 December with a consignment of 278 kg of heroin worth and estimated Rs. 3 billion. Dhanapala further revealed that another Bangladeshi female was arrested with 32 kg of heroin in Ratmalana on 16 December last year. He went on to say that they sought the assistance of the Bangladeshi Police regarding information on the suspect who was the mastermind behind these operations and that the Bangladeshi Police had initiated an internal investigation in this regard. “They then informed us that they would like to come to Sri Lanka and assist us in the investigation we are carrying out here.” He said that several senior Bangladeshi Police officers were expected to arrive in the country sometime after 16 January.