2 Chinese nationals among 3 arrested at airport over trafficking attempt

The Armed Police Battalion or APBn have arrested three members of a human trafficking gang as they were attempting to traffic a young woman to China via Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Two of them were identified as Chinese nationals - Hun Zhunzhun, 30 and Zhang Leiji, 54, while the third is Bangladeshi national Md Nayan Ali, 30.

The two Chinese nationals were arrested at the airport, and Nayan was arrested from Bashundhara on Monday night, the APBn said in a press statement.

APBn Police Superintendent (Operations) Mohammad Mozammel Haque said, “This is the second incident of a Chinese national being arrested for human trafficking at Shahjalal International Airport by the APBn recently.”

In their statement, APBn said that a verbal complaint from the 19-year-old victim from Gaibandha first caught their attention.

“While the young woman was being trafficked through the airport, she complained to the APBn members at the roundabout area near the main entrance that the two Chinese nationals were trafficking her.

“Upon receiving the complaint, Assistant Superintendent of Police Fauzul Kabir Moin and his team arrested the Chinese nationals and brought them to the airport’s APBn office.”

After interrogating the accused and from the information provided by the victim, APBn found that there were more local and foreign traffickers and female victims in a house in the Bashundhara Residential Area in Dhaka.

An APBn team raided the house in Bashundhara and arrested Nayan Ali, a Bangladeshi member of the trafficking gang. The rest of the gang “fled” when they sensed the presence of the police, APBn said.

Police also recovered important evidence tied to the trafficking ring, APBn said.

The law enforcement agency’s initial investigation found that the ring has been involved in human trafficking for a long time. It also said that efforts were underway to arrest the remaining members of the ring.

APBn said, “The two Chinese nationals came to Bangladesh a year ago. Both of them lived in Bashundhara and they developed relationships with local brokers.”

“One of them tried to woo the woman to marry him with the help of Nayan Ali. They succeeded in making the woman agree to the marriage with incentives and also threatening to harm her in different ways.”

They prepared a passport and other documents using the woman’s fake address. Then in March, the woman got married to Zhunzhun with a dowry of Tk 1 million. The other two helped arrange the wedding. Without informing the woman, they also booked a ticket for a US-Bangla Airlines flight (BS 325) to take her to China. Later, when they brought her to the airport, the airport APBn arrested them based on the victim’s complaint.”

The victim’s mother filed a case with the Airport Police Station under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act on Wednesday.

SP Mozammel said, “We have noticed that several human trafficking gangs are trying to traffic women in collaboration with local brokers. Mostly they target women from a low-income background and poor families in villages and work to traffic them to China by luring them in various ways. We try to take quick action based on tips or complaints."

On Dec 10, the APBn had arrested two Chinese nationals on similar charges.