Drug Trade Linked to Arms Business and Human Trafficking: DG Narcotics

Drug trafficking is spreading across the capital and different parts of the country through increasingly new methods. LSD and other emerging drugs are now being found at resorts as well. Drug sales are also taking place through online platforms using QR codes.

Director General of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) Md. Hasan Maruf disclosed this at a seminar titled “Drug Control: Challenges and What Needs to Be Done” at the CIRDAP auditorium on Topkhana Road in the capital on Friday.

At the seminar, organised by Debate for Democracy, the Director General said several types of drugs, including LSD, had been recovered during a raid at a resort in Gazipur. Among the substances recovered were those identified as Poly and MMDB. In addition, a consignment of THC-rich cannabis imported from Thailand was detected at the airport.

He said drug dealers were now using technology alongside conventional methods. Information had been found about drug sales through QR codes in Telegram groups. The department was working to identify such networks based on intelligence information. A case had also been filed over the sale of THC-rich oil through an online platform.

He said raids and law enforcement alone were not enough to control drugs. Families, educational institutions and society must work together. Parents, in particular, should remain aware of their children’s peer groups, movements, smoking habits and use of mobile phones and the internet.

The Director General said Bangladesh’s geographical location, long borders, large population and unemployment made drug control difficult. Its proximity to the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle regions also exposed the country to the risk of drug trafficking.

Noting the links between drug trafficking, arms trading and human trafficking, he said social resistance was also essential alongside law enforcement efforts to combat these crimes. Various agencies, including the police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Navy and Coast Guard, were conducting anti-drug operations.

At the seminar, Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran presented the keynote paper under the slogan, “Say No to Drugs, Build a Drug-Free Bangladesh”.

Dhaka-6 MP Engineer Ishraque Hossain attended the event as the chief guest. Special guests included Professor of Psychiatry Dr. M. A. Mohit Kamal, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Professor Dr. Tajul Islam Chowdhury, State University of Bangladesh Debating Society President Md. Munna Hossain and Eden Mohila College debating team leader Masnun Nabila Alam.

The seminar was organised with the support of the State University of Bangladesh Debating Society and Eden Mohila College Debating Club. Former national debater Md. Kawsar Alam moderated the event.