Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has launched special drive against drug dealers and addicts in the capital following a sharp rise in the use of various banned drugs, officials said.
As part of the move, police has already stepped up its vigilance around the city's drug spots and bus and railway stations, through which a large amount of illicit drug items enter the capital.
"Yes, we've launched a special drive against drug dealers and users from this month as the number of drug users has sharply increased in the city, which is a matter of serious concern to all," a senior DMP official said on condition of anonymity.
The senior police official said drugs like yaba, phensidyl, heroin and cannabis enter the capital mostly through roads and railways from various parts of the country and then reach the addicts.
"So, we've stepped up our vigilance at bus and railway stations to stop transportation of such drugs," he said, adding that the number of yaba users is on top of the chart.
According to the DMP, mobile courts launched by the DMP have sent, in the last two months- February and March - a total of 641 drug dealers and users to jail on various terms.
Of them, 197 were sent to jail in February and 406 in March.
DMP spokesman and joint commissioner Md. Monirul Islam said various kinds of drugs were also recovered during the last two months, which indicates a sharp rise in their use.
"Thirty-eight drug peddlers and users were sent to jail in the first two days of the month, which is not a good sign at all," he said, adding that they have already instructed all the police stations in the city to pay serious attention to the problem.
One kilogram of heroin, 5000 bottles of Indian banned cough syrup phensidyl, 175 kilograms of cannabis and 50,000 pieces of yaba tablets were also seized during the period.
A DMP intelligence official said they have information that many drivers of long distance passenger buses are involved in transporting drugs to Dhaka.
"So, activities of the drivers of highways buses will be under close watch and at the same time intelligence activities has also been intensified in and around the country's educational institutions to protect the students," he said.
Social Service Officer at the state-run Central Drug Addiction Treatment Centre Ruzena Islam hailed the police move, saying that hundreds of youths came in contact with drugs each month because of easy availability.
"I regularly talk with the addicts at the treatment centre on various drugs and most of them replied that they managed to collect their desired drugs wherever they went," she said.
Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (MANAS) founder president Dr Arup Ratan Choudhury expressed his deep concern over the growing use of drugs.
"Time has come to open our eyes and be aware of the deadly effect of drugs as it is silently destroying our younger generation. Every guardian should inquire about the status of the friends of their children," he said.
He said the law-enforcement agencies should immediately launch a combined drive throughout the country as the severity of drugs has spread to every village of the country.
According to the MANAS, the addicts spent at least Tk 70 billion a year on drugs and the amount is increasing day by day.
There are now nearly 9.0 million people in the country, who are highly dependent on drugs, which is nine times the number estimated in the 1990s, it said.
