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Use, trade, and production of Yaba increasing in Bangladesh
Kaladan Press
Monday, 27 December 2010 14:21                 

Chittagong, Bangladesh:  Yaba methamphetamine tablets, often used as an aphrodisiac in  Bangladesh, continue to be increasingly popular among drug users,  despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies to curb the dangers of  the narcotics trade, according to intelligence agencies of Bangladesh.
     
While law enforcement agencies are struggling to stop the inflow of  such drugs from abroad, Yaba tablets are now being manufactured at home.  Locally-produced Yaba is more popular than that smuggled into the  country, despite its higher price. Most foreign Yaba comes to Bangladesh  from Arakan State, Burma, sources said.
 
Many drug addicts now  prefer Yaba tablets to other types of drugs because of their stimulating  effects and increasing availability in the country.
 
According  to an intelligence report, the drug cartels smuggle amphetamines into  Bangladesh from Burma and India, and supply them to different parts of  the country using a strong chain of dealers.
 
In parts of Arakan  State, especially Sittwe, Buthidaung, and Maungdaw townships, commercial  sex and drug peddling has spread quickly. Sex workers, particularly  prostitutes, run their businesses openly from rented hotel rooms in  Sittwe, and the practice has spread to many other towns. In Maungdaw,  the Naypaydaw junction is famous for sex workers and drug addicts and  peddlers. The number of floating sex workers is on the rise. Various  sexually-transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS can be spread quickly by sex  workers and their customers.
 
Students of different  universities, colleges, and schools are also gradually drifting into the  danger of being addicted to Yaba, but so far the drug is most popular  among affluent families. Many celebrities, including film stars,  singers, and artists, are regular consumers of this drug. Smugglers use  luxurious cars and sell the drugs mostly to different bars and hotels.
 
“Since  our business is illegal, we have to pay bribes to the law enforcement  officials, such as the police and the Sarapa (Military Intelligence),”  said a hotel manager in Sittwe.
 
On various occasions, the said  authorities have worked to enforce laws against drug use and  prostitution. Some sex workers and their clients have been arrested, but  the arrestees get released quickly following the payment of bribes,  many have alleged.
 
According to a report about drug and HIV/AIDs  from Arakan State said that he estimates about 30% of youths have been  or are currently addicted to narcotics such as Yaba and cannabis, and he  fears HIV/AIDS has been spread among the youths through of the use of  shared needles to inject heroin.
 
According to an NGO worker in  Arakan State, of sex workers who come to Arakan State from central Burma  Proper, approximately 90% are infected with HIV/AIDS, but the  authorities allow them to do their business freely.
 
“Over 500  persons have already been infected with HIV in Buthidaung Township and  are taking treatment from an NGOs( don’t want to expose), but the NGOs  kept it very secret,” said the NGOs worker.
 
Sources said the  international drug syndicates use Bangladesh as a transit country to  move narcotics from Burma to different destinations. They employ  teenaged boys and girls, mostly students, to carry out their business.
 
Major  Md Shakhawat Hossain, deputy director of the media wing of Rab, said  this year his office has arrested 571 Yaba traders and seized over  74,000 tablets.
 
Sources said Yaba tablets were first brought to  Bangladesh from Chiang Mai, the northern capital of Thailand, in 1990,  but trading of the drug started to spread in 2000 due to a lack of law  enforcement by the authorities concerned.
 
Home Minister Sahara  Khatun recently promised stern action against drug peddlers and  suppliers, and requested parents allocate more time for their children  to ensure that they do not get involved with narcotics.
 
Health  rights workers encouraged waging a united movement by teachers,  students, guardians, and conscientious citizens of the country to stop  the abuse of drugs.
 
MH Choudhury Lelin, a specialist in  preventive medicine, said passion, depression, and frustration, coupled  with a lack of guidance and proper care, drives many into consuming such  drugs.
 
Describing the upward trend in drug abuse as dangerous  for society, Lelin said that addicts often get involved in criminal  activities such as larceny, snatching, and hijacking to obtain money for  their habits.
 
Dr Ranjan Kumar Nath, a specialist in medicine,  said Yaba may cause dangerous diseases such as heart problems and high  blood pressure, and can damage blood vessels in the brain, which may  lead to strokes. Chronic use of the drug can result in inflammation of  the heart lining. Overdose can cause hyperthermia, convulsions, and even  death. Individuals who use Yaba may also have episodes of violent  behavior, paranoia, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia.
 
In  Bangladesh, different nightclubs and beauty parlors are hubs for sex  workers and drug traders, said a local hotel manager from Dhaka.
 
A  local leader from Sittwe, Arakan State, said that it is very important  that the government launch a massive campaign to raise awareness of the  adverse effects of such drugs, and to strengthen morality among young  people.

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