Shawdesh Desk:

Like Yaba, another dangerous drug Crystal Methamphetamine, also known as Ice or Crystal Meth, which is more harmful than Yaba pill, has spread across the country, raising serious concerns.

The recent major haul of Ice in Cox’s Bazar district near the Myanmar border has indicated that the demand for the drug is increasing really fast.

This drug is being brought to the country from Myanmar, the country across the Naf river, through the Yaba smuggling route. Smuggling of the dangerous drug Ice is rampant along the border areas of Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar district.

According to law enforcement officials, since there is a huge demand for Ice in Bangladesh, Yaba traders mainly smuggle this drug from Myanmar. Due to high profits, Yaba traders have got involved in the Ice business.

Large consignments of Ice are entering the country from Myanmar through the Yaba route of Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar. Law enforcement agencies have been put on alert due to a rise in trade and use of the drug.

According to a recent confidential police report, Ice smuggling has increased along with consumption within the country. Ice consumption has increased among the youth. Even if the carriers are caught in the operation of law enforcement agencies, the main culprit remains out of reach. As they are powerful, it is not possible to approach them.

Based on this information, the work of making a new list of Ice traders has been started, police sources said.

A few months ago, the government is taking steps to declare Cox’s Bazar district and Chittagong metropolitan area as drug-prone areas to curb drug trafficking in the region. The decision comes after a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs, where deep concern was expressed about the drug situation in the area.

In 2018, law enforcement officials busted the first Ice lab in Bangladesh in Dhaka’s Jigatala and arrested Hasib Bin Muammar Rashid.

The Department of Narcotics Control said 66 kg of crystal meth was seized across the country in the first four months of 2023 even though this drug was not that familiar at the beginning of 2019. Law enforcement agencies seized 65 grams of crystal meth only in 2020 while 36.798 kg in 2021 and 113.331 kg in 2022.

Sources said a gram of Ice is sold for between Tk 10,000 and Tk 12,000 in Dhaka.

Dulal Krishna Saha, the chief chemical examiner at the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), said crystal meth contained 96 percent of methamphetamine while Yaba pills contained 10-15 percent of methamphetamine.

Crystal meth is lightweight and portable, and law enforcement officials sometimes fail to recognise it, which encourages smugglers to get more and more involved in transporting the substance, he added.

He said the physical and psychological effects of ingesting a small amount of crystal meth are what are attracting Yaba users to the drug.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), only 10 percent of ice or crystal meth that enters the market is recovered.

According to the statistics of law enforcement agencies, ice smuggling into the country has increased hundredfold in 5 years. However, the main culprit of the ice shipment remains concealed. Sometimes the arrested persons with Ice claimed that they were responsible for reaching certain places. But they have no information about whom to reach.

In other words, Ice smuggling is taking place like ‘cut-out’ approach to gold smuggling and militant communications.

According to the Department of Narcotics Control (NDC) sources, Crystal meth or Ice is mainly produced in Thailand. It is also being made in Malaysia and Myanmar. Basically, it is smuggled from these three countries to various European countries, the United States, Australia, and Singapore. Ice is 20-25 times more harmful drug than Yaba.

Sources also said that due to the crackdown on the Yaba business and the increase in the consumption of ice, a section of drug dealers are turning to this business. They were earlier associated with Yaba business.

The members of that syndicate started sending amphetamine powder and grains from Teknaf to Chattogram and Dhaka via Cox’s Bazar as well as Yaba. Early shipments of Ice were found as crystals or look like talmishri seeds, but now most are powders.

Sources said there are three main Ice smuggling zones in Bangladesh –Teknaf border, Ukhiya border and Naikhongchhari border in Bandarban. Most of the crystal meth smuggling into Bangladesh from Myanmar is done through the Naf River.

On May 6, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Cox’s Bazar arrested a ringleader and three members of a drug smuggling gang and seized 24 kilograms of crystal meth known as Ice worth Tk 120 crore. It was the biggest recovery of crystal meth in the country till date.

On April 26, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) apprehended three drug dealers with a shipment of 21 kg and 90 grams of ice from the Palong Khali border in Cox’s Bazar.

On March 22 last year, RAB seized 12kg of ice in Munshiganj district on confidential information.

DNC director (operations and intelligence) Tanvir Mamtaj said everyone is worried about the country’s increasing Ice imports. On how to stop it, an action plan is being created. The fundamental issue is Myanmar’s uncooperative attitude. Bangladesh has occasionally asked Myanmar for assistance, but the nation has refused.

Additionally, he claimed, drug trafficking gangs have close ties to Rohingya and use them to bring drugs into Bangladesh.

Syed Harun or Rashid, additional deputy inspector general of APBn-14, the unit dedicated to Rohingya camps, said recent clashes within the camps have centred around drug trafficking control. Drug smuggling operations can be controlled by whoever has control of the camps, which results in deadly conflicts.