Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Bangladesh has become the transit point for international drug trafficking due to its geographic and strategic location, sources said.
They said international drug barons and the Mafia network find the country as a safe alternative drug smuggling route when other routes have become risky for them.
The international drug trafficker’s syndicate has already developed its link with local cartel to bring the illicit drugs into Bangladesh, they claimed.
“Bangladesh has become the transit country for illegal drugs produced in the ‘Golden Triangle’ and the ‘Golden Crescent,’ a senior official of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) told The New Nation on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
He said, the Chittagong seaport is the main exit point for drugs leaving the country while the rest is smuggled out through Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong airports.
The DNC official further said that the transnational drug syndicate is using these air and seaports to smuggle heroin, cocaine, opium, Yaba, phensedyl and marijuana. Later, such drugs were sent to Europe, America and other Asian countries. “Illicit drugs produced in neighbouring countries like India, Myanmar and Afghanistan are also being trafficked into Bangladesh using sea routes and land borders,” he added.
He pointed out that the Customs Intelligence found liquid cocaine in a barrel that arrived in Chittagong seaport on June 8 from Bolivia, highlighting the growing connections between the international drug trafficking syndicate and local cartel.
When asked, the DNC official said, the same drug trafficking syndicate might be involved cocaine smuggling. As per our investigation, the illicit drug was supposed to send to a third country using Bangladesh as a transit route.
“We are trying to trace local agents of the syndicate so that we can prevent their activities into Bangladesh,” he added.
According to DNC, there are two major drug trafficking routes that are being used to smuggle huge amounts of illegal substances around the world, with each consignment being significance thousands of dollars.
One of these routes starts from Golden Triangle, ending up in Canada via Myanmar, Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Middle East, Europe and the US.
The other route starts from Golden Crescent, ending up in Canada via Pakistan, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the US.
Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent are the two major opium-producing areas in Asia. Golden Triangle covers the mountains of Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand; while Golden Crescent overlaps the mountainous territories of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
Apart from this, DNC marked another route that goes from beginning to end Bangladesh, India, Middle East, Indian Ocean, Europe, the USA and Canada.
