Narinjara News

Dhaka, 3rd  June 2005

Bangladesh vows to crack down on drug smuggling

The Bangladesh government ordered the department of Narcotics Control (DNC) to take drastic action against drug smuggling and drug trafficking within the country, said a newspaper report yesterday.

The order was issued by a concerned authority in a meeting of 'The High Powered National Narcotic Board', held at the offices of the Home Ministry in Dhaka on 1st June 2005.

At the meeting the DNC was asked to gear up anti-drug operations across the country, especially in the border regions close to Burma and India.

The high authority from the Bangladesh government has asked the police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the coast guard to assist the DNC in their operations at the borders with India and Burma.

The meeting proposed providing firearms to the DNC officials and there was also a proposal submitted to provide mobile phones to the DNC officials.

According to source, the home ministry will make a decision to regarding providing firearms to DNC officials after scrutiny.

A number of ministers from the departments of Information, Foreign, Social Welfare, and the State Minister for Planning and Home attended the meeting along with other DNC officials.

The State Minister for Home affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar denied claims made by a US State Department report that there are "unconfirmed reports" that opium and cannabis are cultivated along the border with Burma, the Minister stating that,  " This is not true".

It has been learnt that the number of drug addicts is increasing alarmingly in Bangladesh recently. Thus, the Bangladesh authority has decided to drastically crack down on drug smuggling and trafficking within the country, said the report.  #

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