A SHOCKING revelation by a leading English daily showed that persons who are financially and politically influential have been controlling the Yaba business in the country. They have effective control over the supply inflow and marketing mechanism of Yaba in Bangladesh. The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) of Bangladesh prepared a list where 25 such people were named and DNC officials emphasized on how the huge Yaba drug trade could be effectively curbed if these 25 people were held accountable for their illegal activities. Noteable, there are almost 600 big and small scale Yaba traders in the country, said the report.
The news report also added that Shahbagh police on Monday arrested seven people with 1,250 pieces of Yaba tablets at Dhaka University. According to police sources, the Yaba peddling students worked for some of the leaders of the students wing of the ruling political party of DU and got paid Tk 1,000 a day for their work. Even though DU authorities knew about the Yaba circulation and trading, the police informed that the DU authorities did not take any step to stop it in fear of the students leaders.
Further, trading showed that DNC officials confirmed that drug trade in the country has increased at an alarming rate in the past six years and according to its annual drug report, the amount of the seizure of Yaba in 2013 was 2076.36 percent more than that of five years ago. In 2009, around 1.3 lakh Yaba pills were seized across the country by all agencies. Last year 28 lakh pieces were siezed by all agencies operating in the country and this year till November, the seizure exceeded 53 lakh.
The DNC report added that Yaba consignments are being smuggled into the country through Bangladesh-Myanmar-India border and that the DNC has a shortage of manpower and firearms to check the menace. There is a huge backlog of drug-related cases in court (about 50,000) and DNC officials say that Yaba is gradually replacing drugs like heroin and Phensedyl and around $4000 million is spent annually on drugs and around 80 percent of the drug users are youth —both urban and rural.
It is terrifying how the Yaba drug trade in the country is flourishing even though safeguarding systems are in place. It seems that the power of political and financial influences is overcoming the safeguards and making way for the youth of our nation to abuse the unhealthy narcotic Yaba.
Drug addiction, Yaba in particular, has proved to be a self-destructing action for the youths. Allowing the menace growing at an alarming proportion will only prove ruinous for the nation.
