City lanes turn drug dens

Many lanes, by-lanes and even residential areas of the capital have become dens of drug business, endangering lives of many youths.

City-dwellers said drug trade is still rampant in many places despite a regular police drive against drug dealing.

Detective sources said trade of some banned drugs, especially yaba and phensidyl, is continuing unabated with youths thronging the drug dens.

As the drugs are smuggled into the country from neighbouring countries, lanes and by-lanes, railway station areas and many other places have turned havens of drug dealers and addicts.

In the latest development, police arrested 41 suspects in a regular drive against drug dealing in the capital in the last 24 hours, said an official statement on Saturday.

During the drive, the law enforcers seized 1469 yaba tablets, 60kg hemp, 3 gram heroin and a huge quantity of phensidyl and wine.

In some cases, drug smugglers are also producing and selling drug-mixed drinks under the guise of Ayurvedic medicine, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said.

Organised gangs of drug traders have selected many Ayurvedic medicine shops and residential houses as safe dens for drug business to evade law enforcers.

Despite a massive crackdown on drug traffickers, the immortal business is not being stopped at all, many said.

Although only a handful of drug carriers are netted by law enforcers, top drug smugglers remain out of reach, detective sources said.

RAB media wing director Commander Khandaker Al Moin said that they have recently received complaints from several parents that a shop in Kamrangirchar is selling a kind of drink under the guise of Ayurvedic medicine.

Many people said their sons are getting addicted to this Ayurvedic medicine and behave like drug addicts after consuming it.

Later, an RAB-2 intelligence team secretly collected the medicine from the Ayurvedic shop and sent it to the laboratory. In the drink, the presence of 'A' class drug called toluene which is used to make gaja, yaba, dandi is found.

 Also, there are various combustible substances including acid-like substances in various materials for intense sleeping pills and sexual arousal, which, if taken, are likely to cause various complex diseases.

Initially, it is known that they have been preparing and selling drinks mixed with drugs and sexual stimulants under the guise of selling Ayurvedic medicines in an unsanitary environment with a licence in the name of pharmacy.

They produce the drink in the factory located in Narinda of the capital and sell the drink through outlets in various places including Kamrangirchar, Kataban, Nazira Bazar, Gulistan.

It is known that about 400 bottles of the drug-mixed drink are sold daily from various outlets in the capital.

They rent flats and run factories. It is known to change location by changing nests at different times. Due to its cheap availability and presence of addictive substances, the demand for the drink increased among the young and youth community. Legal action is pending against those arrested.