A B Ziauddin Hossain,
Ctg: Dhaka, Sept-02,
Crystal Ice - a new drug has become a cause for concern. A hundred times more harmful drug made from yaba ingredients. Like Dhaka, the ‘elite’ areas of Chittagong city are also witnessing the rampant use of the drug, along with the flourishing business. Highly provocative and expensive, this horrible drug is spreading all over the country from Myanmar to Chittagong.
The rich are the main
buyers. At present the market price of five grams of ice in the country is
about one lakh taka. Due to the high market price, the demand for this drug is
high in the elite areas of Chittagong . Observations by law enforcement say the
teenage of wealthy families are the main customers of ice. A part of it is
young women. Many people go to lead lounges and take these drugs. High value
crystal meth or ice can be consumed easily. It is becoming more popular among
drug addicts due to more potent as well as its easier use than yaba and its
longer bioavailability in the body than yaba.
This drug causes
intense arousal in the human body for a short period of time. Long-term use of
the drug can damage the blood vessels inside the brain, cause bleeding, and
damage the heart, kidneys, and liver. Ice is basically active ingredients of
yaba. However, it is a hundred times more harmful than yaba. Yaba contains
caffeine along with Methamphetamine Crystal meth or Ice, on the other hand, is
directly Methamphetamine. 20 percent Methamphetamine is used in yaba. On the contrary 100%
Methamphetamine used in ice or crystal meth. It is possible to make 500 yaba
with 1 gram of ice.
Ice shipments are
entering Bangladesh from Thailand via Myanmar via the sea at Noakhalipara on
Marine Drive in Teknaf, the Rohingya camp at Hnila and the hilly plains of
Naikhyangchhari. Apart from Teknaf border, Shahpari Island Gholarchar,
Dakshinpara Beach Point, Majher Para, Sabrang Hariakhali, Kachubnia,
Munderdale, Khurer Mukh, Maheshkhalia Para of Sadar Union, Noakhali of
Baharchhara, Shilkhali, Shamlapur. However, more ice is coming by sea. In
particular, these ice is entering Cox's Bazar from Myanmar through various fish
traders. This ice is delivered to the trawlers of the fish traders in the
middle of Naf river or sea. Fishermen usually use ice to preserve the fish
after fishing in the sea where drug ice also looks similar. For this reason,
they don't have to get much inconvenience after being brought ashore by fish
boat or trawler.
The arrested persons
said that the drugs were brought to Chittagong from Teknaf under the guise of
fish. Analyzing some recent incidents, it has been seen that the sellers
usually buy the drug from Cox's Bazar and bring it to Chittagong. In this case,
sometimes through Cox's Bazar, sometimes through Bandarban, they enter
Chittagong. A part of it is sold targeting the elite areas of Chittagong. The
rest of the drugs were then taken by truck or any other means from Chittagong
to Comilla. Most of them are taken by private car from there, sometimes to
Gazipur, sometimes to Dhaka via Manikganj and sold in the elite areas there.
The drug called Crystal Ice is made mainly in Thailand. However, it is also being made in Malaysia and Myanmar recently. Bangladesh is being used as a smuggling route from these three countries to Europe, America, Australia, Singapore and other countries - the law enforcement has received such information. One shipment after another in Chittagong-Cox's Bazar On August 10, a man named Nurul Abshar (52), a resident of Chakriya, was arrested with 430 grams of ice worth Tk 43 lakh from Laldighir Par area of Chittagong city.
However, the first consignment of ice
was caught in Chittagong on February 24. On the same day, RAB arrested two
persons with 140 grams of ice worth Tk 14 lakh from Mozaffarnagar By Lane of
Khulshi Police Station. According to RAB, both of them had been selling the new
drug called 'Crystal Ice' in Chittagong for a long time. Earlier, on March 25,
Teknaf North Baraitali , RAB arrested a man named Hossain with two kg of ice.
On April 13, BGB members searched the Teknaf Shilkhali check post and arrested
a man with 18 grams of ice. Meanwhile, on May 1, the Narcotics Control
Department arrested a Teknaf youth named Ataul Karim with 200 grams of ice from
the Gachbaria College gate in Chandnaish, Chittagong. Seven days later, on May
8, police arrested a young man named Osman Gani with 100 grams of ice and
14,000 yaba from North Lambri in Teknaf. On the same day, RAB arrested a
Rohingya youth named Hamid with about one kg of ice at Hnila Nayapara in
Teknaf. On June 17, police arrested a young man named Sagar with five grams of
ice from Moizjartek in Chittagong's Karnafuli upazila.
On the night of July
12, RAB seized a large consignment of ice from Fisherighat area of the city.
Three people were arrested with the consignment of 975 grams. Two days later,
on the night of July 14, three persons were arrested in a raid in Brijghat area
of the city along with 80 grams of crystal meth (ice) and five thousand yaba
tablets. On the other hand, on February 25, 2019, the Department of Narcotics
Control found five grams of ice in the lab of a young man named Hasib Muammar
Rashid at his house in Jigatla, the first capital of the country.
Crystal
methamphetamine, more commonly known as crystal meth or Ice, is a form of the
drug d-methamphetamine, which is a man-made stimulant drug. Individuals make
crystal meth using the drug ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a central nervous
system stimulant often found in cough syrup or other cold medications. Other
substances are often used, such as ingredients that are extracted from brake
cleaner, batteries, alcohol, drain cleaner, and antifreeze, to make crystal
meth more potent.
Crystal meth appears as
small pieces of glass or blue-white rocks of different sizes. The drug is
highly addictive and abused for the long-lasting euphoria it produces. It is
typically smoked or snorted. It is known
by several different street names, including: Glass,L.A. glass,Crystal
glass,Ice,Hot ice,Super ice,Crank,Cristy,Quartz,Stove Top,Shards,Tina etc.
All of the chemicals
used to make crystal meth are harmful, and many are flammable. When individuals
cook crystal meth, the process creates phosphine gas and other gases that can
be highly toxic if you inhale them. Many of the gases, such as phosphine gas,
are quite flammable, and combining ammonia and alkali metals in the production
of crystal meth leads to the risk of explosions. Crystal meth is made in many home laboratories
or even in cars, and the risk of explosions from using all these volatile
chemicals increases in close quarters.
End/Dct/Abz/Sma/
