Requires cooperation of our neighbours too

Narcotics kill slowly but surely and, if unchecked, can destroy entire generations. If the harmful drugs and narcotics are allowed to pervade the market and their flagrant use is not prevented, the nation is bound to suffer irreparably, a consequence that not all of us are able to foresee. But that is what is happening to the future of this country, being vulnerable from a two-pronged assault, from across our eastern as well as western fronts. In fact, the production of these harmful,  sometimes psychedelic drugs has become a cottage industry in the areas in India and Myanmar bordering Bangladesh. A report published in this paper on Sunday—and there have been quite a few on this particular issue in recent times—illustrates how the holes in the border are being exploited by the drug dealers to smuggle phensedyl into Bangladesh. The report also shows how some extinct factories have been revived in India to supply the drug, which is banned there too, to Bangladeshi smugglers.     

The matter is serious, and although the government has taken several steps to combat the menace—some of them draconian—the supply of phensedyl and yaba goes on unabated. In fact, it is on the rise, as the BGB seizure statistics in respect of both drugs shows. It may not be an exaggeration to suggest that for every 100 of these units seized, several hundred gets through. In this connection, one must not overlook the disturbing reality that often drugs and illicit weapons are deeply interlinked; one is bartered for the other.

The problem needs to be addressed on two fronts. Firstly, the supply chain must be disrupted and eventually destroyed altogether. And for this, we need the collaboration and cooperation of our two neighbours. The source of production at the origin must be targeted. Secondly, it needs an equal, perhaps even greater effort on our part to prevent their entry into Bangladesh including strengthening surveillance. But if the alarming nexus between the smugglers and the police, which the said report also reveals, is not broken, then the situation will not improve. Thus, while we need our neighbours' cooperation to combat the problem, we need to address our own loopholes too and make our borders completely inaccessible to drug smugglers.