ANNUAL DRUG REPORT OF BANGLADESH, 2013 Department of Narcotics Control Ministry of Home Affairs Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 ANNUAL DRUG REPORT OF BANGLADESH, 2013 Department of Narcotics Control Ministry of Home Affairs Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh 1 Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 VISION AND MISSION VISION: To build a drug-free Bangladesh. MISION: Our mission is to limit the use of drugs strictly to legitimate purposes, and prevent any kind of their diversions through an effective system of control, intervention, monitoring, and inspection, through reduction of their illicit demand and supply at one end, and ensure their supply for legitimate purposes on the other end, as well as to reduce and minimize the related harms of abuses in the line of the Constitution of Bangladesh and the UN Conventions, through effective policy, systems, infrastructures and organizational capability, where human potential is maximally released leading to total development and well being of the citizens of Bangladesh, and building a healthy environment for enhancing the quality of our life in all respect, and try to maintain a drug free Bangladesh. Published by Department of Narcotics Control 441, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208 Phone: 02 8870011, Fax: 02 8870010 E-mail: [email protected], www.dnc.gov.bd Prepared and Edited by Md. Abu Taleb Additional Director, Department of Narcotics Control Published on September, 2014 Design and Printed by Color Horizon www.colorhorizon.com.bd 2 Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 Asaduzzaman Khan, MP State Minister Ministry of Home Affairs Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh MESSAGE The problem of abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs is like an iceberg of which we can see only the peak. The underlying curses of drugs are disruption of the fabric of the whole society, deterioration of the law and order situation and threat to national economy, security and public health. Drug syndicates in many countries exist as a parallel evil power to the Government. Father of our nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had a dream to establish a peaceful, healthy and prosperous nation through his life-long battle. His able daughter our honorable Prime Minister Her Excellency Janonetri Sheikh Hasina is very much eager and committed to fulfill the dream of our father of nation. But drugs have become the main obstacle to achieve this goal. Drugs are ruining our young generation, who are the vitality of the nation. It is evident from reports and studies that more than 80% of the drug abusers are youth. Drug abuse has become a major threat to our public health. Illicit drug-money is fueling into severe inflation of money and augmenting corruption unrest all over the society. Drugs have appeared as root of many social vices and perversions. Therefore we cannot sit idle. It is high time to fight against drugs with all of our zeal and efforts. The Government of Bangladesh is firmly committed to combat the menace of drugs at any cost. But to win the battle we need appropriate policy and proper planning. The effectiveness of proper policy or planning and success of their implementation depends on accurate assessment of the nature and extent of the drug problem in Bangladesh. I hope that the Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 will give us a concrete and accurate picture of various aspects of the contemporary drug problem in Bangladesh. I also hope that this report will be a useful guideline for the policy makers of Bangladesh in all their anti-drug efforts. I thank all those who worked hard to prepare and publish this Annual Drug Report. Joy Bangla Joy Bangabandhu Long live Bangladesh. Asaduzzaman Khan, MP 3 Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 Senior Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh MESSAGE It is a great pleasure for me to know that the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) is going to publish the Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013. Abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs is a complex problem. It is not only a problem within itself, but also the root of many other problems and curses. Most of the social crimes are committed under influence of drugs. Drugs directly affect the law and order situation. It has negative impacts on the overall socio- economic development. The abuse of drugs destroys the productivity and vitality of the work force. It directly hampers economic growth. Almost 50% of the detected criminal offences in Bangladesh are drug-related. Drug abusers are generally involved in serious crimes like theft, robbery, burgling, snatching, kidnapping, extortion, etc. for collecting money to buy drugs. Abuse of drugs is a major cause of spreading HIV/AIDS. As policy makers we need to know the nature, scope and magnitude of the drug problem in Bangladesh. The earlier annual drug reports of the DNC were very informative and comprehensive containing multiple features. I am hopeful that this upcoming one will significantly contribute to all concerned authorities for better understanding and assessment of the drug problem in Bangladesh. I welcome the Department of Narcotics Control for publishing the Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 and express my heartiest thanks to all who worked hard for it. Dr. Md. Mozammel Haque Khan Senior Secretary 4 Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 Department of Narcotics Control Ministry of Home Affairs Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh FOREWORD Abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs is a multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional problem. It is deeply rooted in our society and associated with all other psycho- social problems. In many cases it is the root of other problems too. No single approach has been proved to be effective in the fight against the drug menace. Therefore, the Government of Bangladesh has involved concerned Ministries and representatives of leading sectors of the society in the National Narcotics Control Board (NNCB) so that concerned authorities, agencies, even the NGOs can play their respective role in the fields of prevention and control of the abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs which include all the activities of demand, supply and harm reduction. Article 18 of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides the basic principles of prevention and control of drugs in Bangladesh. The Narcotics Control Act, 1990 is the major instrument for implementing these principles. Though the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) has the primary responsibility of management and suppression of all the problems related to demand, supply and harms of drugs in Bangladesh, other law enforcement agencies are also vested with duties and responsibilities of enforcing this law in their respective jurisdiction. In fact, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) plays the major role for preventing smuggling of drugs into Bangladesh. Besides Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Coast Guard and Customs Department with their presence at every nook and corner in the country render the most significant service for suppression of all sorts of drug- crimes. Therefore, we have tried to put forward the available data of their performance as much as possible. We have been publishing Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh since 2010 and this one will be the 4th. Our effort was to make it better than the earlier issues. We do not know how much we have succeeded in our mission. We leave the judgment to the readers. I thank all officials who have worked for it. I specially thank Md. Abu Taleb, Additional Director Dhaka Zone for his devoted hard work preparing and editing this Report. I hope this report may render significant contribution to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the drug situation in Bangladesh for all concerned. Mohammad Atwar Rahman Director General 5 Annual Drug Report of Bangladesh, 2013 EDITORIAL The situation of abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs is subject to constant change. Preparation of any report in this regard needs continuous and appropriate research and study. But unfortunately we do not have such research or study in Bangladesh. Though the Research and Publication Wing of the DNC is primarily responsible for this job, the people work here are not expert or experienced in this field. Therefore I had to shoulder this responsibility at the eleventh hour as I had experience of preparing and editing the earlier three issues of this report. It was indeed a herculean task for me, because I had to complete this report in a very short span of time and I did not get current data and information ready for this report except those documented in the previous issues. The database of DNC is not so much rich and well organized. Therefore most of the information was collected from the field offices, even through telephone. Though the DNC is the Nodal Agency and primarily responsible for prevention and control of the drug problem in Bangladesh, we honestly recognize that other law enforcement agencies and the NGOs are playing a vital role in this respect and information of all their contribution in the fight against drugs could make this report richer. We tried to communicate with many of our working partners both at GO and NGO level for information on their achievements and contributions. But very few could response within this short period of time. Therefore we had to complete this report with whatever data we had in hand. This Annual Drug Report is supposed to be the mirror of the situation of abuse and illicit trafficking of drugs in Bangladesh and all the efforts of all concerned with it. But we were compelled to keep the volume of this report within our limited financial ability.