No let-up in drug trade despite crackdown

DOT Desk: Illegal drug trade continues to be a cause for concern across the country despite intensified crackdowns by law enforcement agencies and prosecution of over seven lakh drug dealers over the last decade, reports The Daily Sun.
However, drug traders dodge crackdowns in many cases allegedly with support from a section of law enforcers.
A total of five government agencies brought 702,399 drug traders to book in the last 10 years, according to the latest data of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC).
DNC is the country’s main narcotics control body which is assisted by Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Bangladesh Coast Guard. Law enforcement agencies recovered 161,237,049 Yaba tablets, 1805.62 kg heroin, 40.803 kg cocaine, 144.77 kg opium and 455,477 kg of ganja from 2009 to until September 2018. They also filed a total of 559,398 cases against drug dealers during the period.
They seized 132,287 Yaba pills in 2009, 812,716 in 2010, 1,077,301 in 2011, 2,134,395 in 2012, 2,821,528 in 2013, 65,128,669 in 2014, 20,177,581 in 2015, 29,450,178 in 2016 and 40,079,443 Yaba pills in 2017.
The government initiated a massive drive against drug traders, particularly Yaba traders, in the middle of 2018.
Many alleged drug peddlers were killed across the country in ‘gunfights’ during the crackdowns.
Law enforcers lodged 95,710 cases against 129,394 alleged drug traders from January to September in 2018.
They also recovered 580, 38,751 Yaba tablets, 347.667 kg of heroin, 0.75 gram of cocaine, 7.25 kg of opium and 51616.827 kg of ganja during the period.
Of the agencies, DNC lodged 12,507 cases against 13,772 alleged drug traders and recovered 2,420,078 Yaba pills, 11.86 kg of heroin, 0.027 kg of opium, 2729.557 kg of ganja and 22,270 bottles of Phensedyl.
RAB recovered 9,630,839 yaba pills from January 1 to December 31, 2018. The elite force also recovered 32.744 kg of heroin, 131,233 bottles of Phensedyl, 4,762.504 kg of ganja, 10,628 bottles of foreign alcohol, 41,931 canes of beer, 14,260 units of sedative injections, 0.750 gram of cocaine, 7.250 kg of opium and 10,000 Viagra pills during the period and arrested 19,060 drug traders and addicts.
Border Guard Bangladesh recovered drugs and smuggled goods worth around Tk 854.04 crore from January to November 2018.