Yaba, 'crazy pill' and a very powerful methamphetamine stimulant drug has been spreading everywhere in the country. The influx of the deadly Yaba appears to have gone beyond control despite efforts by law enforcement agencies to contain it.
The law enforces arrested a large number of people with Yaba pills on Thursday from different parts of the country.
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a drive arrested a man along with 1,095 pieces of Yaba pills on Thursday from Dakshin Tilaipara Bottola village in Bhurungamari upazila of Kurigram district. The arrested is Md Safar Ali, 56, a resident of the village.
RAB-13 official said in a press release that acting on a tip-off, a team of the elite force conducted a raid in the village and arrested the man along with the drugs. During preliminary interrogation, the arrested person confessed his involvement in drug trading.
Later, the arrested was handed over to Bhurungamari Police Station. A case was filed with the police station against him under Narcotics Control Act and legal steps would be taken in this regard.
The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) in a drive arrested four alleged drug peddlers with 10,000 pieces of Yaba tablets from a loaded truck on Rangpur on Thursday.
Deputy Director of the District DNC Dilara Rahman on Friday said acting on a tip-off, they searched the truck in Fatehpur Bhurarhat area in Sadar upazila on Thursday and arrested four men with 10,000 Yaba tablets and seized Tk 42,000 in cash and the truck from the spot.
The detainees are Aminul Islam, 30, of Rangpur Sadar upazila, Idris Ahmed, 30, and Mamun Mian, 20, of Chakaria upazila in Cox's Bazar and Saikat Mian, 24, of Modern Mour area in Rangpur city.
The detainees were handed over to police after a filing a case with Rangpur Sadar Kotwali Police Station, she said.
Meanwhile, police have arrested a Rohingya man along with 1,400 Yaba pills from Mirsharai upazila in Chattaogram district on Thursday afternoon.
The arrested was Aman Ullah Arman, 27, hailed from Kutupalang camp of Ukhiya upazila in Cox's Bazar district.
Mirsharai Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kabir Hossain said acting on a tip-off, a team of police conducted a raid in Hadifakir Haat area under Wahedpur union of the upazila and arrested the man along with the drugs. A case was filed with the police station and legal action has been taken in this regard, the OC added.
Worries have mounted over the rising addiction of the amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) drug, commonly known as Yaba, among youths, official data shows.
There are no specific statistics on the market size of this particular drug. None has so far conducted a nationwide survey to know the extent of financial involvement and impact of the drug use on the society.
But the number of confiscations of the drug by the law-enforcement agencies over the last ten years suggests that the abuse of Yaba has grown very fast, and it is dominating the country's illicit drug market because of its easy availability.
According to the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), the law-enforcement agencies seized 1.3 million Yaba tablets in 2011. The number gradually increased to 1.9 million in 2012, 2.8 million in 2013, 6.7 million in 2014, 20 million in 2015, 29.5 million in 2016, and 40 million in 2017.
In 2018, the number rose to over 53 million, but it declined sharply to 30 million in 2019 - when the law-enforcement agencies launched special drives against illicit drugs across the country.
After the crackdown was over, the number rose to 36 million in 2020, to over 53 million in 2021 and 55 million in 202. The confiscations do indicate that the use of Yaba and the trade associated with it have recorded a phenomenal rise over the years much to the concerns of guardians and the law-enforcers.
Seeking anonymity, a senior DNC official has said the inflow of the stimulating drug continues to grow unabated through the Myanmar border despite their intensified watch.
