Plan to crack down yaba inflow

The BGB and police have identified Bangladesh's southeastern Teknaf border with Myanmar as the main route for yaba smuggling

The deadly drug tablets yaba intake by a section of the younger generation of the country has of late become a matter of great concern for the conscious citizens of the country. It is everybody’s demand that the inflow and domestic production, if any, of yaba tablets be urgently stopped to save the younger generation of the country from ruin. However, it is praiseworthy and a matter of great relief that the Bangladesh government has decided to create a new region to secure its border with Myanmar to stop all sorts of illegal activities, as part of the “zero tolerance policy” against drugs particularly inflow of the contraband yaba tablets. It is in everybody’s knowledge that Myanmar is the source country from where yaba tablets are flowed in profusion to Bangladesh for long. The Director General (DG) of Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) said that the government has decided to create a region in Teknaf on ad-hoc basis to secure the 271-kilometre border with Myanmar so that all sorts of illegal activities including the inflow of contraband yaba tablets are stopped.
The paramilitary force BGB has alone seized over 11.9 million pieces of contraband yaba tablets in the last seven months of this year 2017. Besides BGB, other agencies such as police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Coast Guard and Department of Narcotic Control (DNC) recovered a huge number of yaba tablets during this period. The huge seizure of yaba tablets, despite the fact that drug is not produced in Bangladesh, indicates that the people of the country are exposed to severe damage due to cross-border smuggling of drugs from the neighbouring Myanmar.
Referring to the seizure of over 11.9 million yaba tablets in the last seven months, the BGB chief said that "We have already held border conference with Myanmar Police Force (MPF) to stop smuggling of yaba. We have informed the Myanmar police about yaba smuggling in Bangladesh”. The next conference is scheduled to be held in November 2017 next. Bangladesh has taken some necessary measures to secure the Bangladesh border Teknaf with Myanmar (i) by creating a region on the ad-hoc basis, (ii) ensuring fulltime intelligence surveillance, (iii) imposing a ban on all sorts of infiltration, (iv) conducting joint drives, and (v) setting up check-posts to stop the inflow of yaba tablets.

The BGB and police identified Bangladesh's southeastern Teknaf border with Myanmar as the main route for yaba smuggling. The BGB officials said that in view of intensified vigil on the Bangladesh-Myanmar frontier the smugglers now prefer sea routes. As Bangladesh shares around 271 km of border with the southeastern neighbour that includes 208 km of land and 63 km of Naaf River, a major part of the illegal drug is reportedly smuggled regularly from Myanmar. Statistics from the Bangladesh's Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) show that yaba that come from Myanmar tops the list of smuggled drugs into Bangladesh.

A DNC report based on the records of drugs recovered from 2008 to 2014, said that among all the drugs, yaba is the most popular and addiction to yaba in Bangladesh is on the rise. The report stated that the number of yaba tablets recovered in 2008 was 36,543; in 2009 it was 129,644; in 2010 it was 812,716; in 2011 it was 1,360,186; in 2012 it was 1,951,392; in 2013 it was 2,821.528 and in 2014 it was 6512869. This shows that the rate of increase in 2014 is 17722.48 percent in comparison with 2008 and 130.82 percent in comparison with 2013. Of them, 47.83 percent cases of yaba have been detected in Dhaka zone and 30.43 percent in Chittagong.

Yaba was initially entering Bangladesh territory from Chiang Mei province in Thailand via Myanmar in the 1990. Yaba tablet is brightly colored in red, orange or lime green and it carries logos such as "R" or "WY" and is generally produced in a round pill form. This small and round Yaba is roughly 6 mm in diameter and packed inside a regular drinking straw for easy trafficking or in a reusable “mint” container. Bangladesh and Myanmar had earlier in 2011 adopted a seven-point action plan from a two-day meeting between narcotics officials and representatives of law enforcement agencies. The joint meeting was held on November 15-16, 2016 at Park Royal Hotel in Yangon in 2011.

The officials familiar with the development said that the seven-point decision includes regular exchange of information on drug related crimes and drug dealers, increased security surveillance on the Naaf River that separates the two countries and the common coastlines. They said that the concerned agencies of the two countries agreed in the meeting to intensify cooperation in spearheading anti-drug campaigns including prosecuting the suspects. Myanmar side agreed to demolish Yaba producing factories in Myanmar. We all hope success in the drive to make Bangladesh free from this deadly drug.

The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre

 

Plan to crack down yaba inflow

The BGB and police have identified Bangladeshs southeastern Teknaf border with Myanmar as the main route for yaba smuggling

The deadly drug tablets yaba intake by a section of the younger generation of the country has of late become a matter of great concern for the conscious citizens of the country. It is everybodys demand that the inflow and domestic production, if any, of yaba tablets be urgently stopped to save the younger generation of the country from ruin. However, it is praiseworthy and a matter of great relief that the Bangladesh government has decided to create a new region to secure its border with Myanmar to stop all sorts of illegal activities, as part of the zero tolerance policy against drugs particularly inflow of the contraband yaba tablets. It is in everybodys knowledge that Myanmar is the source country from where yaba tablets are flowed in profusion to Bangladesh for long. The Director General (DG) of Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) said that the government has decided to create a region in Teknaf on ad-hoc basis to secure the 271-kilometre border with Myanmar so that all sorts of illegal activities including the inflow of contraband yaba tablets are stopped. The paramilitary force BGB has alone seized over 11.9 million pieces of contraband yaba tablets in the last seven months of this year 2017. Besides BGB, other agencies such as police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Coast Guard and Department of Narcotic Control (DNC) recovered a huge number of yaba tablets during this period. The huge seizure of yaba tablets, despite the fact that drug is not produced in Bangladesh, indicates that the people of the country are exposed to severe damage due to cross-border smuggling of drugs from the neighbouring Myanmar. Referring to the seizure of over 11.9 million yaba tablets in the last seven months, the BGB chief said that We have already held border conference with Myanmar Police Force (MPF) to stop smuggling of yaba. We have informed the Myanmar police about yaba smuggling in Bangladesh. The next conference is scheduled to be held in November 2017 next. Bangladesh has taken some necessary measures to secure the Bangladesh border Teknaf with Myanmar (i) by creating a region on the ad-hoc basis, (ii) ensuring fulltime intelligence surveillance, (iii) imposing a ban on all sorts of infiltration, (iv) conducting joint drives, and (v) setting up check-posts to stop the inflow of yaba tablets. The BGB and police identified Bangladeshs southeastern Teknaf border with Myanmar as the main route for yaba smuggling. The BGB officials said that in view of intensified vigil on the Bangladesh-Myanmar frontier the smugglers now prefer sea routes. As Bangladesh shares around 271 km of border with the southeastern neighbour that includes 208 km of land and 63 km of Naaf River, a major part of the illegal drug is reportedly smuggled regularly from Myanmar. Statistics from the Bangladeshs Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) show that yaba that come from Myanmar tops the list of smuggled drugs into Bangladesh. A DNC report based on the records of drugs recovered from 2008 to 2014, said that among all the drugs, yaba is the most popular and addiction to yaba in Bangladesh is on the rise. The report stated that the number of yaba tablets recovered in 2008 was 36,543; in 2009 it was 129,644; in 2010 it was 812,716; in 2011 it was 1,360,186; in 2012 it was 1,951,392; in 2013 it was 2,821.528 and in 2014 it was 6512869. This shows that the rate of increase in 2014 is 17722.48 percent in comparison with 2008 and 130.82 percent in comparison with 2013. Of them, 47.83 percent cases of yaba have been detected in Dhaka zone and 30.43 percent in Chittagong. Yaba was initially entering Bangladesh territory from Chiang Mei province in Thailand via Myanmar in the 1990. Yaba tablet is brightly colored in red, orange or lime green and it carries logos such as R or WY and is generally produced in a round pill form. This small and round Yaba is roughly 6 mm in diameter and packed inside a regular drinking straw for easy trafficking or in a reusable mint container. Bangladesh and Myanmar had earlier in 2011 adopted a seven-point action plan from a two-day meeting between narcotics officials and representatives of law enforcement agencies. The joint meeting was held on November 15-16, 2016 at Park Royal Hotel in Yangon in 2011. The officials familiar with the development said that the seven-point decision includes regular exchange of information on drug related crimes and drug dealers, increased security surveillance on the Naaf River that separates the two countries and the common coastlines. They said that the concerned agencies of the two countries agreed in the meeting to intensify cooperation in spearheading anti-drug campaigns including prosecuting the suspects. Myanmar side agreed to demolish Yaba producing factories in Myanmar. We all hope success in the drive to make Bangladesh free from this deadly drug. The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre