The citizens of at least five countries were involved with the transnational syndicate that was smuggling narcotics from East African countries to India using Bangladesh as a transit route.

Under the guise of a readymade garment trader, a Nigerian citizen -- Don Franki alias Jacob Franki -- is the mastermind behind it.

Franki is known as the "Big Boss" among syndicate members. He has been living in the country for the last nine years.  During the stay, he recruited a couple of Bangladeshis as local aide.

Mustakim Billah Faruqui, director general of the Department of Narcotic Control, disclosed the findings yesterday following arrest of five people including Nigeria, Cameroon, and Bangladesh nationals.

The arrestees are Kelvin Yenge, 42, a Cameroon national, Nonso Ezema Peter alias Oskar, 30, and Ndulu Ebuka Stanley alias Podosky, 31, both Nigerians, and Saiful Islam Rony, 34, and Asaduzzaman Apel, 27, both Bangladeshis.

But the DNC failed to arrest Franki as he left the country for Nigeria nine months back. Franki's brother Wissly, who was taking care of the syndicate in his absence, also went into hiding.

Faruqi said they found out about the syndicate after 8.3 kilogrammes of cocaine were recently seized in Dhaka.

A DNC team in a joint drive with the airport Armed Police Battalion (APBn) arrested Malawi citizen -- Nomthandazo Towera Soko, 35, -- from the Dhaka airport on January 24 with the seized cocaine, which has a street value of Tk 100 crore.

Just a day later, in a separate drive, the same team raided a hotel where Towera was supposed to stay, and arrested a Tanzanian man -- Mohamedi Ali Mohamedi, 55, -- in possession of 200 grammes of cocaine.

Investigators said arrestee Mohammedi and Kelvin, a coordinator of the cocaine syndicate, entered Bangladesh on January 20. After Towera was arrested at the airport, Kelvin was planning to leave the country but got arrested before he managed to flee.

Faruqi said arrestee Rony got introduced to Franki while working in the garment sector. He has had a business relationship with Franki for the last two years.

Rony was responsible for issuing fake invitation letters to the syndicate members to visit Bangladesh on an on-arrival visa, said Faruqi.

He used to send invitations in the name of "Maspex Limited", which has no authenticity.

Of the arrestees, only Towera had a passport. Others visited Bangladesh with travel documents and collected on-arrival visas with fake invitations and hotel bookings.

Meanwhile, the other Bangladeshi national of the syndicate, Apel, is the manager of Franki, and he was responsible for repackaging, and ensuring the security of the consignment after it entered Bangladesh.

During the drive to Apel's residence, DNC officials recovered five luggage, used for carrying cocaine, and 70-gramme kush, a type of cannabis.

Faruqi said they have communicated with the narcotics authorities of the neighboring countries to trace other syndicate members, as it is a transnational syndicate.

When reporters asked how Franki stayed in Bangladesh for nine years avoiding surveillance, Faruqi said, "Franki was involved in the garment sector, and used to purchase jerseys and similar products and send them to Nigeria. He maintains the network under the guise of legal business."