DHAKA: Illegal drugs are making inroad into the capital through newer and innovative tricks of the cross-border trade, according to latest findings.

The drug traders become active again after a brief period in alert for administrative vigilance. As a result, the clandestine drug markets in the capital have been bustling with phensidyl, hemp, yaba and the like.

In recent times, the announcement of ‘crusade’ against the drug peddlers by the State Minister for Home Affairs, special raids by the metropolitan police and also the frequent raids by the Narcotics Control Department could not stem the tide.

The drug traffickers change their tactics frequently to hoodwink the helpless administration, according to sources in the know.  

Acting on tip-offs by sources, law-enforcing agencies, including RAB and police, are not getting expected success in many incidents, they said.

But the narcotics control department’s Director (operations), Wadudul Bari Chowdhury, claimed some successes in the war on drugs.

He told banglanews24.com.bd, “ We have been able to find out twenty new tactics of drug peddling as we have intensified source deployment and intense observation.”

Chowdhury said they were getting positive results and recovered huge quantities of phensidyl, hemp, heroin, yaba tablets, opium and other illicit drugs.

Gulshan Circle Inspector of the Narcotics Control Department Helaluddin Bhuiyan said they deployed additional sources to track down changing modus operandi of the peddlers.  

Officials of law-enforcement agencies said that more than 40 thousand bottles of phensidyl, about ten thousand ampoules of intoxicating injections, more than six maunds of hemp, one and half kilograms of heroine and nine thousand pieces of yaba tablets were recovered from the capital city during last two months.

However, the recovered drugs were 25 to 30 percent of the total consignments smuggled into the capital, the officials said.

Drugs, drugs everywhere
On last July 25, a youth named Kalu Mia was arrested from Subarna Express at Airport Railway station with 360 bottles of phensidyl kept in a specially made jacket. About a dozen members of the ‘jacket team’ carry over a thousand bottles on a trip.  

Two youths were arrested on July 17 from Bhanga Press area of Kajla in the capital with 60 bottles of phensidyl pumped into jackfruits.

On May 26, Abdus Sattar was captured for carrying phensidyl in the guise of gipsy. He was arrested from Jatrabari crossing in the capital with 180 bottles. Two of his accomplices managed to escape.

Earlier on last April 22, Rabiul disguised as ‘Mowlana’ was arrested by the narcotics department with five hundred intoxicating ampoules of lupijesic injections from Farmgate area.

The department on March 20 recovered 1300 lupijesic ampoules from Uttaran Courier service office at Chankhar pool.

On February 26, the narcotics department during a raid at Kamalapur railway station recovered two kilograms of hemp, stuffed in a melon, from a female drug trafficker named Kulsum Begum.

To crown it all, police recovered phesydyl carried in the private car of an Army Major.

Drug traders were also arrested with bottles of phensidyl kept on the cot for carrying dead body in ambulance.

Hundreds of incidents have been unearthed, while trafficking drugs in computer monitor, CPU, television sets, battery, gas-container, extra wheel and fish fry-carrying drums goes on.

On the other hand, vegetable-carrying vehicles towards the capital also carry hemp. The vegetable-laden trucks from Rajshahi, Kushtia, Jhenidah, Jessore, Comilla, Brahmanbaria and Dinajpur border areas without hindrance enter the capital and unload those drugs at night.

The narcotics department last week recovered four maunds of hemp after conducting a search operation on a microbus from Jatrabari.  The hemp contained in eight gunny bags was brought from Brahmanbaria border, officials said.

DMP Commissioner A.K.M. Shahidul Haque told banglanews24.com.bd that he instructed all his units of DMP for special raids in June and July to bust the aggressive drug cartels.

Wodudul Bari Chowdhury discussed another weak point. He said that the drug traders are being arrested with drugs often but they come out from jail custody immediately through several loopholes of the existing law. They again indulge in the illegal trade as soon as they come out.

He further informed that there are instances of arresting same accused thrice in two months.  

BDST 2030 HRS, AUGUST 2, 2010.