Ex-convict caught smuggling US$10.6M in cocaine

Karen Petula Stuffle, a woman from Guyana, has been arrested at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport with a large consignment of cocaine, the same crime that once sent her to prison in her native country.
On September 9, 2018, Stuffle was caught at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Guyana with 1.14 kilograms (kg) of cocaine.
A court sentenced her to four years in jail and fined her $2.3 million on Sept 14 that year.
She had been preparing to fly to New York’s JFK Airport when she was detained in Guyana.
This time, she was held in Dhaka after flying from Qatar’s Doha.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate said Stuffle arrived on Qatar Airways flight QR638 at around 02:30h on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, officials had been on alert before the aircraft landed at Gate No. Six.
Investigators confirmed her identity at seat 30, and after she completed immigration formalities, her baggage was scanned.
Inside, officers found three plastic jars, each containing several foil-wrapped capsules.
In total, 22 egg-shaped capsules were recovered. Initial tests by the Department of Narcotics Control confirmed the substance was cocaine.
The haul weighed 8.66kg, with an estimated street value of Tk 1.3 billion (US$10.6M), making it the largest seizure of cocaine at the Dhaka airport.
Sonia Akhter, deputy director of the airport’s customs intelligence and investigation circle, said charges were being prepared against Stuffle under criminal and customs laws.
Stuffle, 63, is a hairdresser by profession.
Guyanese media outlet Stabroek News detailed her earlier arrest.
In 2018, she had been stopped while attempting to board a British Airways flight to New York.
During questioning at the check-in scanner, she was searched, and a package wrapped in plastic was recovered from her body.
When opened, it contained a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine.
Once initial testing confirmed it was cocaine, Stuffle reportedly said, “That’s all the cocaine I got.”
She was then arrested and taken to the headquarters of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), where the drugs were weighed. An X-ray later revealed suspicious items inside her intestines.
She was admitted to hospital, where she was given laxatives. Over the next two days, she excreted a total of 100 cocaine-filled capsules.
The capsules were later found to contain a total of 928 grams of cocaine. Combined with the initial seizure, the total weight came to 1.142kg.
Brought before a magistrate, she pleaded guilty on her lawyer’s advice, expressed remorse and promised never to offend again.
The court sentenced her to four years in jail, fined her $2.39 million, and ordered the confiscation of $400 found on her.
Seven years on, that promise has been broken. Stuffle has once again returned to drug trafficking. [bdnews24]