Chattogram Bureau :
City Corporation Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin said anti-narcotics drive would continue until the illegal drug trade came under control.
Most of the Yaba tablets were smuggled into Bangladesh from Myanmar and the government on several occasions had requested the Myanmar government to close the Yuba factories in their territories. “The Myanmar government did nothing in response to our request.”
“The operations are being conducted according to a list. Where there are illegal drugs, there is illegal money and illegal arms. So, gunfights can occur. Our law enforcers are also being injured.”
In the port city, there are over 300 spots where peddlers have been selling drugs, including Yuba, for years dodging the law enforcers, according to Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) officials.
The major spots include Barisal Colony and some areas in Sadarghat, Akbar Shah, Khulshi, Bakalia, Bayezid, Pahartali, Motijharna, Kotwali, Double Mooring, Chotopool and Halishahar.
The drug trade in Chattogram , adjacent to Ukhia-Teknaf, the gateway of smuggling Yuba into Bangladesh, is controlled by 114 people, according to a list of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC). However, Rab officials say a recent home ministry list includes 58 names.
As a special drive against drug dealers goes on, most of the dealers in the port city have apparently gone into hiding, say locals and law enforcers.
A few low-tier dealers are still in some of the spots but they do not go out during the day now, they say. Talking about the drug menace, several law enforcers and DNC officials said one of the major reasons why the illegal trade has thrived in Chattogram was some law enforcers’ involvement in it.
Almost all the big shots in the business have been on the run since the anti-narcotics drive began, said law enforcers.
Usually, Yuba pills are smuggled into Bangladesh from Myanmar through Teknaf and then are sent to other parts of the country mainly through Chattogram.
The tablets reach the port city via the Cox’s Bazar-Lohagara-Satkania- Karnaphuli-Bakalia route despite frequent raids by law enforcers, said police.
However, as the route has become “risky” due to the drives, some smugglers started using a new one involving Chattogram Hill Tracts, Hathazari and Bayezid areas to bring the pills into Chattogram.
Later, they are taken to Dhaka either via Feni or Chattogram. Some indigenous people are involved in it, according to law enforcers.
