Nearly three decades after Bangladesh banned LSD, the substance was first found in the country in 2019 and two more years on, the harrowing death of a Dhaka University student put it back into sharp focus.
LSD was put among the banned drugs under the Narcotics Control Act of 1990 because of the dangers of the hallucinogenic substance, said Mujibur Rahman Patwari, an additional director at the Department of Narcotics Control or DNC.
In 2019, two individuals were found in possession of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD, the first time it was discovered in the country, reports bdnews24.com.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police sniffed out the hallucinogenic drug while investigating the abnormal death of the student, Hafizur Rahman.
Witnesses said he killed himself by slitting his throat with a billhook from a coconut seller outside the Dhaka Medical College Hospital near the university earlier this month.
The police have arrested three of his friends -- Sadman Sakib Rupal, 25, Ashab Wadud Turja, 22, and Adib Ashraf, 23.
As many as 200 blotted papers containing LSD were seized from them.
WHAT IS LSD
In the 1950s, LSD was used to carry out many scientific researches in psychotherapy in the United States but people soon began abusing “acid”, as it is popularly called, for recreational purposes.
Psychologists attempted trials to use the substance for treating alcoholism, reducing the suffering of terminally ill cancer patients, and in the treatment of children with autism but as subcultures surrounding abuse of hallucinogens rose in the following decade, the US government tried to curb it by legislating laws in 1965.
DNC Additional Director Patwari said it was estimated that some young people from the higher middle class were using LSD to a limited extent. Previously, youths from the same class began the abuse of methamphetamine and caffeine-based contraband Yaba in the country.
Patwari said the effects of LSD are deadly.
Following administration, the acid raises blood pressure, causes warm flushing of the skin, optical illusion and hallucination.
People have no control over their actions while tripping.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
In July 2019, the DNC seized 25 strips or blotters and 5ml of liquid LSD in a raid on a home in Mohakhali DOHS after a sting operation.
Fazlul Haque Khan, then a superintendent of the department, filed a case with Kafrul Police over the seizure.
The two accused in the case were students -- Yaser Ridwan Anan, 21, and Syed Ahnaf Atif Mahmud, 21.
Yaser was a student at a university in Canada. He used to smuggle liquid LSD inside oil bottles and stamp-shaped strips.
During interrogation, he said he was a substance abuser before flying to Canada for his studies and he had also taken LSD in Bangladesh before leaving.
He was able to soak up LSD in the proper amount on blotting papers.
SOLD ONLINE
Law enforcement officials involved in the operation said they disguised themselves as customers of the drug which was being sold online.
Mehedi Hasan, a former assistant director of the DNC, led the operation in 2019. He is currently deputy director of the agency’s Bogura segment.
In an interview over the phone, Mehedi said they received information on LSD trade in Mohakhali from a source. They purchased two blotters of the drug for Tk 1,000 each on first contact and nabbed them on their second contact.
Detective officials extracted texts and videos on the techniques of preparing LSD blotters on his phone.
In the latest case, the drug was also found to be sold online.
One of Hafizur’s arrested friends, Sadman, was studying at the North South University after being expelled from the Dhaka University’s Institute of Business Administration.
Citing Sadman’s statement, the police said he had an individual named “Tim” couriered him the LSD blotters from the Netherlands after the Bangladeshi student contacted the foreigner via Telegram app.
Each blotter cost Sadman Tk 800 to Tk 1,000. He then began selling the drug for
Tk 3,000 to Tk 4,000 via Facebook groups with the help of others.
They opened two Facebook groups for the trade of the drugs.
One of them is named ‘Apnar Abba’ and the other is ‘Better Brownie And Beyond’.
They also sell hash brownie, which is a pastry made out of cannabis extracts.
OTHER GROUPS
Ex-DNC superintendent Mehedi said they had intelligence that several other LSD-trading groups operate in Gulshan and Banani areas. But these groups went into hiding following the arrest of Yaser. Many women were also linked to the trade of the drug.
According to the arrestees, another Bangladeshi studying in a Canadian university was supposed to bring over a shipment of LSD. They also revealed information on the said individual’s arrival date and ticket. He, however, did not arrive.
Citing information gleaned from the interrogation, Mehedi said it was the first shipment the detainees had brought to the country experimentally. Young individuals belonging to the higher middle-class took LSD before going to any party. Many of these youths studied abroad and were acquainted with Yaser in some ways.
If marketing LSD among substance abusers in Bangladesh was a success, they were planning to bring over magic mushrooms, with the street name “Shrooms”, which is another drug belonging to the hallucinogenic group.