Spotlight

New Delhi, 18 May 2007

DRUG TRAFFICKING VIA BANGLADESH

NEW DELHI, May 19 (INFA): Recent investigations by law enforcement authorities indicate that drug trafficking organizations have been using Bangladesh as a trans-shipment point for smuggling drugs, according to the International Narcotics Control Board.

In April 2006, it was reported that consignments of heroin had been smuggled through Bangladesh into the neighbouring countries and the United Kingdom, where they had been seized. 

It is believed that the heroin might have been smuggled from Afghanistan into Bangladesh through the border with India and then shipped to the United Kingdom from there. It is also reported that heroin destined for the United States has been smuggled through Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka remains an important trans-shipment point for heroin from Afghanistan and India. The heroin is destined mainly for countries in other regions, but also stimulates the domestic market for the drug. Heroin enters the country mainly by sea from India and, to a lesser extent, by air from Pakistan.

The abuse of opiates, including illicitly-manufactured heroin and low-quality heroin base known as “brown sugar”, remains a problem in several countries in South Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There is also a continuing trend in the region to move rapidly from inhaling to injecting drugs (mainly heroin and buprenorphine).

Drug abuse in Maldives has reached alarming levels, and, according to several ministers and high-ranking officials, is now the most serious problem the country is facing. There are indications that, since a rapid situation assessment was conducted in 2003, the situation has continued to worsen, with drug abuse spreading outside of the capital city and younger persons abusing.

Drug abuse is linked closely with the rising theft and robbery rates in Maldives, with prison authorities estimating the prevalence of drug abuse among inmates at 80 per cent.

Preventive measures taken by the Government of Bangladesh appear to have resulted in a decrease in the abuse of buprenorphine and pethidine in that country. However, it also appears that this has resulted in an increase in the abuse of heroin.

The Board has urged the Government to monitor the situation closely and to take remedial measures as appropriate.

In India, drug abuse by injection has been one of the main factors behind the spread of HIV in some areas. It has been well-documented that drug abuse by injection has been one of the main driving forces behind the spread of HIV in Manipur.

In June last year, the Indian authorities seized 200 kg of cocaine from a container in the port of Mumbai. It was the largest single seizure of cocaine in India, more than the total amount of cocaine seized in the country in over 10 years.

The case is currently under investigation by the Indian authorities. Once the results of the investigation are available, it will be possible to make an assessment of the possibility of a newly emerging trafficking route for cocaine. ---INFA