The number of mobile court drives and cases of drug-related violence and offences in the country saw a substantial rise in 2021 compared to that of 2020, owing to an increased effort and enforcement taken by the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) to curb those crimes.
A report prepared by the DNC said different mobile courts of the department lodged 12,147 cases and 12,172 people were accused in 2021 in 2,8506 drives involving various drug-related offences.
The report also stated that the courts filed 10,471 cases and 10,498 people were accused in 2020 in 23,193 drives across the country in drug-related offences.
Moreover, the courts filed a total of 9,444 cases and 9,484 were accused in 18,424 in 2019 in connection to those offences, its data reveals.
The number of confiscations of particular contraband drug Yaba by law-enforcement agencies over the last eight years suggests that the abuse of the amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS), commonly known as Yaba, grew very fast and it dominates the country's illicit drug market because of its availability.
Teens and youngsters of affluent families are its main consumers. The drug makes its users excited and gives them an instant euphoric feeling but it leaves a deadly effect on the users in the long term.
Officials and anti-drug activists said the volume of the stimulating tablet the law-enforcement agencies seize every year is just a small portion of the tablets entering the country.
According to the DNC, law enforcement agencies seized 800,000 Yaba tablets in 2010. But the number gradually increased to 1.3 million in 2011, 1.9 million in 2012, 2.8 million in 2013, 6.7 million in 2014, 20 million in 2015 and 29.5 million in 2016. In 2017, the volume rose to over 40 million.
The confiscations do indicate that the use of Yaba and the trade associated with it have recorded a phenomenal rise over the years much to the concerns of guardians and the law enforcement people.
According to the advocacy group, addicts spend at least Tk 70 billion a year on drugs and the amount is increasing day by day.
