Mohammed Badrul Ahsan :
Derailed people of the country collectively spend more than Tk50 billion per year only for buying dominating contraband Yaba and some others similar goods for their addiction, officials said.
According to them, addicts spend around Tk 49 billion annually only for buying Yaba. Rest of the amount they spent for buying other items like Phensidyl, ganza and some other addicitive drugs.
They said, tablets of the amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS), commonly known as Yaba, have been dominating the country’s illicit drug market over the last few years following its growing use among the young addicts because.
“There are no specific statistics about the market size of this particular drug. None has ever conducted a nationwide survey to know the extent of financial involvement. But as per our estimation, the figure is more than Tk50 billion,” a high official of enforcement agency told the New Nation preferring anonymity.
“The volume of Yaba the law enforcement agencies seize every year is just a small portion of the overall consignments of the ‘crazy’ tablet have been entering the country,” said added.
According to the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), over 19.5 million pieces of Yaba were seized by law enforcement agencies in 2015 throughout the country. In previous calendar year, over 6.7 million pieces were seized.
In 2013, the figure was 2.8 million followed by 1.9 million, 1.3 million and 0.8 million in 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively. It indicates that the use of Yaba and the trade associated with it marked a phenomenal rise over the last six years, triggering serious concern among guardians and law enforcers.
“We could seize only a little portion of total consignment, thought to be 10 times more than the quantity we seized,” DNC Director (operations and intelligence) Syed Towfique Uddin Ahmed said.
The department does not have any specific data about the number of drug addicts as well as the quantity of Yaba smuggled into Bangladesh annually, he said.
He disclosed that the drug addicts on an average spent at least Tk 250 for each tablet, Tk600 for a Phyncidil and Tk300 for a single dose of Heroin.
He said the price of each contraband item very up to Tk 400-600, depending on supply and demand.
Based on the estimates done by the DNC, the law enforcement agencies like police, the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) and the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), seized Yaba worth Tk 4.87 billion in 2015.
Seeking anonymity, another senior DNC official said the amount could be as much as Tk 48.87 billion if the value was calculated 10 times higher.
However, anti-illicit drug consumption activists and guardians have urged the government to take serious note of the issues, saying the amount the addicts annually spend for Yaba could be used in executing many mega projects.
But the government can stop such illegal trades by intensifying its monitoring in and around the entry points of the country and thus save a huge amount of money going down the drain because of the illicit drug consumption.
When contacted, DNC Director General Khandakar Rakibur Rahman said Yaba has now become the dominant drug item in Bangladesh in terms of its rapidly growing market size, which has overtaken those of Phensidyl and other forms of drugs.
Expressing his grave concern over phenomenal rise in Yaba and some other addictive items’ trade in the recent years, he said a large number of people in the bordering areas especially alongside Myanmar are directly engaged in illegal drug business.
“It’s very difficult to monitor their activities with our limited resources. People from all walks of life need to come forward against the trade.” Teens and youngsters of the affluent families are the main consumers of this drug which makes its users excited and gives them an instant euphoric feeling. But the drug leaves a deadly effect on them.
Derailed people of the country collectively spend more than Tk50 billion per year only for buying dominating contraband Yaba and some others similar goods for their addiction, officials said.
According to them, addicts spend around Tk 49 billion annually only for buying Yaba. Rest of the amount they spent for buying other items like Phensidyl, ganza and some other addicitive drugs.
They said, tablets of the amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS), commonly known as Yaba, have been dominating the country’s illicit drug market over the last few years following its growing use among the young addicts because.
“There are no specific statistics about the market size of this particular drug. None has ever conducted a nationwide survey to know the extent of financial involvement. But as per our estimation, the figure is more than Tk50 billion,” a high official of enforcement agency told the New Nation preferring anonymity.
“The volume of Yaba the law enforcement agencies seize every year is just a small portion of the overall consignments of the ‘crazy’ tablet have been entering the country,” said added.
According to the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), over 19.5 million pieces of Yaba were seized by law enforcement agencies in 2015 throughout the country. In previous calendar year, over 6.7 million pieces were seized.
In 2013, the figure was 2.8 million followed by 1.9 million, 1.3 million and 0.8 million in 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively. It indicates that the use of Yaba and the trade associated with it marked a phenomenal rise over the last six years, triggering serious concern among guardians and law enforcers.
“We could seize only a little portion of total consignment, thought to be 10 times more than the quantity we seized,” DNC Director (operations and intelligence) Syed Towfique Uddin Ahmed said.
The department does not have any specific data about the number of drug addicts as well as the quantity of Yaba smuggled into Bangladesh annually, he said.
He disclosed that the drug addicts on an average spent at least Tk 250 for each tablet, Tk600 for a Phyncidil and Tk300 for a single dose of Heroin.
He said the price of each contraband item very up to Tk 400-600, depending on supply and demand.
Based on the estimates done by the DNC, the law enforcement agencies like police, the Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) and the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), seized Yaba worth Tk 4.87 billion in 2015.
Seeking anonymity, another senior DNC official said the amount could be as much as Tk 48.87 billion if the value was calculated 10 times higher.
However, anti-illicit drug consumption activists and guardians have urged the government to take serious note of the issues, saying the amount the addicts annually spend for Yaba could be used in executing many mega projects.
But the government can stop such illegal trades by intensifying its monitoring in and around the entry points of the country and thus save a huge amount of money going down the drain because of the illicit drug consumption.
When contacted, DNC Director General Khandakar Rakibur Rahman said Yaba has now become the dominant drug item in Bangladesh in terms of its rapidly growing market size, which has overtaken those of Phensidyl and other forms of drugs.
Expressing his grave concern over phenomenal rise in Yaba and some other addictive items’ trade in the recent years, he said a large number of people in the bordering areas especially alongside Myanmar are directly engaged in illegal drug business.
“It’s very difficult to monitor their activities with our limited resources. People from all walks of life need to come forward against the trade.” Teens and youngsters of the affluent families are the main consumers of this drug which makes its users excited and gives them an instant euphoric feeling. But the drug leaves a deadly effect on them.
