Yaba manufacturing machines now being smuggled into country: DNC

Amid the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, narcotics dealers are now smuggling Yaba manufacturing machines to Bangladesh.
Rohingyas, on the way to Bangladesh from Maungdaw town, were allegedly bringing parts of the machines, which were later installed in different hilly areas in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar coastal district.
Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) claimed to have the findings during a recent investigation.
On September 19, a DNC team of Teknaf special zone in a special drive recovered 1kg crystal meth and arrested a dealer – Firoz Alam, 45, near the Teknaf Upazila Hospital.
Sifat Ullah Tasnim, assistant director of the DNC Teknaf Special Zone, confirmed the developments to The Daily Star today.
“The price of the recovered meth is around Tk 5 crore, although the smugglers or the Rohingya smuggling the meth to Bangladesh only takes Tk 40 to Tk 50 lakh for the narcotics,” he said.
Asked about the destination of the meth consignment, Sifat said, “We have come to know that the smugglers are not distributing the meth directly as it is now being used for manufacturing yaba inside Bangladesh territory.”
The smugglers managed to bring some yaba manufacturing machines using Rohingya as carriers and those were set up at different hilly areas of Cox’s Bazar, he said, adding “These machines are located in very remote areas, due to which it is very difficult to trace them, but we are working on it.”
Sifat also claimed, “The smuggling of yaba and crystal meth has increased than before, as the Rohingyas entering Bangladesh from Myanmar are bringing those along with them.”
Regarding the arrestee Firoz, Sifat said that he is a member of the organised narcotics syndicate and was working as an agent in Teknaf. Firoz’s job was to receive the consignment and then have it delivered as per the directive of the consignment leader, he added.
Analysing the the recovery database of the law enforcers, this newspaper found that around 4.10 lakh yaba pills and 950g meth were recovered in February this year from Cox’s Bazar district, while the figure rose to 7.92 lakh yaba pills and 3.4kg meth in March.
And the figure doubled in April.
Law enforcement agencies recovered around 15.58 lakh yaba pills and 5.169kg meth that month.
Hundreds of Rohingya refugees have been crossing the border into Bangladesh daily through the Naf river over the past few days, facing attacks by both the Myanmar military and Arakan Army rebels, who have been locked in a fierce conflict in the Rakhine state since November last year.
The number of new arrivals after August 5 is not less than 30,000, according to Rohingya leaders, while on September 3, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain told reporters that around 8,000 Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh recently.
Around 1.2 million Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled a 2017 Myanmar military crackdown that has been dubbed as an ethnic cleansing by the UN, are living in the sprawling camps of Cox’s Bazar.