A highly addictive crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as 'ice,' is strengthening its position in the market and alluring youngsters from rich families to their doom.
A senior official of the Department of Narcotics Control told the Daily Observer on Sunday that the price of 'ice' is higher than Yaba, and its effect is also stronger.
When the law enforcers in Bangladesh are struggling to control Yaba, a section of drug peddlers is trying to introduce the new drug 'ice' in the country taking the advantage of lawmen's ignorance, he added.
Crystal meth 'ice,' is a billion-dollar industry across the world. 'Ice', the crystal methamphetamine was smuggled out from Myanmar's Golden Triangle." The Golden Triangle is a remote jungle area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet.
It has long been a key centre in the production of heroin and more recently methamphetamines. The Yaba is an amphetamine
based drug and 'ice' is methamphetamine based drug.
Methamphetamine, which changes brain function and alter perception, mood, or consciousness, is considered dangerous. 'Ice' is also known as crystal meth, shabu, crystal, glass, and shard.
Investigators claim to have gathered information of over 100 users of 'ice' in the country -- the list includes businessmen, private university students, and youngsters from rich families in the capital.
The Department of Narcotics Control has confiscated a large shipment of crystal methamphetamine from an area beside a Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar.
Nearly two kilograms of the substance was recovered in the operation on March 3, officials said at a press conference in the city on March 4.
Muhammad Ahsanul Jabbar, Director General of DNC, said the confiscated amount costs around Tk 100 million. "Those who do this drug are very rich people," Jabbar said at the conference.
This is the largest consignment of 'ice' seized in Bangladesh so far, according to DNC officials. The DNC arrested an individual with around 500 gram of crystal meth in June last year.
DNC officials said the first consignment of 'ice' was smuggled into the country two years ago. It is used widely in Thailand, but it comes to Bangladesh along with Yaba from Myanmar.
Methamphetamine-known as 'meth'- is a laboratory-made, white, bitter-tasting powder. Sometimes it's made into a white pill or a shiny, white or clear rock called crystal.
'Crystal meth' is a large, usually clear crystal that is smoked in a glass pipe. Smoking or injecting the drug delivers it very quickly to the brain, where it produces an immediate and intensely high reaction. Because the feeling doesn't last long, users often take the drug repeatedly, in a 'binge and crash' pattern.
The most common drug in the country is Yaba. Almost everyone including the users know about the harm caused by it. But the new drug 'ice' surpassed Yaba in terms of damage. It has been found in the study that 'ice' affects the body 50 to 100 times more than Yaba.
According to the survey of Bangladesh National Mental Health Institute, the number of drug addicts in the country is about 36 lakh and most of them are in Dhaka. Although, many non-government organizations' survey claim that the number of drug users in the country is around 70 lakh.
Sources said the main components of Yaba are amphetamine which has 20 to 25 per cent amphetamine while 'ice' is also made from amphetamine. However, the use of amphetamine is 100 per cent in 'Ice'. So the new drug is far more harmful than Yaba. Human body produces a lot more response to it than Yaba.
"The drug is classified as a synthetic stimulant. It is widely used in the West, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries. DNC officials classify 'ice' as a dangerous drug.
Generally, 'ice' is smoked and the smoker feels the effect almost immediately or when it is injected, it takes 15 to 30 seconds to feel the effect, and when swallowed, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to get the effect or when snorted, within 3 to 5 minutes, the users can have the effect.
Dulal Krishna Saha, chief examiner of chemicals at the DNC, told media that crystal meth can create intense excitement in the human body shortly after the drug is taken.
This drug permanently damages veins in the brain and may cause brain haemorrhage, he said, adding that the drug also causes dementia.
