A barrel imported through the Chittagong port over one and a half months ago contains cocaine, said customs intelligence today.

The cocaine was detected in a liquid substance inside a barrel that weighed 185 kg, which was imported from Bolivia along with 106 other barrels on May 12.

The other barrels carried sunflower oils, said intelligence sources.

Moinul Khan, director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, said they became sure about the cocaine after they did two tests separately at two laboratories including Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in Dhaka recently.

"Both reports confirm the presence of cocaine in one of the seized barrels," he told The Daily Star over the phone.

He said the quantity of the cocaine could not be ascertained immediately as they do not have the adequate technical equipment in this regard.

He added that the liquid in the barrel was different in smell, colour and thickness from the sunflower oil in other barrels.

A top official of the intelligence, however, claimed one third of the liquid could be cocaine.

Sources said all the 107 barrels loaded with crude sunflower oil were found in a container which was sealed off by Chittagong Detective Branch (DB) of police on June 6.

They added the container was opened on June 8 in the presence of top officials from different law enforcement agencies.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police said as the barrel was imported without following proper procedures, it remained stuck at the port.

After a primary test, a top official of the Special Branch (SB) of Police said they were informed by a foreign intelligence agency about the smuggling of a drug through a container from South America to somewhere else using Bangladesh as a transit.

Initially an expert team from Narcotics Control Department (NCD) conducted a primary test but could not detect the presence of any contraband in the samples, Our Chittagong correspondent said after talking with the experts.

DB officials on June 6 held one Sohel, an employee of a local firm, in connection with the import of the barrels.