'Mother got me involved in yaba business'

Al-Amin Sheikh

A mother had allegedly turned her son into a yaba peddler so that he could join the “family trade” along with her and her sister.

This came to light after the son was arrested by police with 13,500 pills in port city's Cinema Palace area early yesterday. Md Al-Amin Sheikh, 25, got arrested while delivering a yaba consignment.

“After the arrest, he claimed that his mother Saju Begum and aunt Runa got him involved in the business,” Mohammed Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, told The Daily Star.

Al-Amin said he worked as a peddler while his mother and aunt used to gather the product, contact buyers and set up time and place for delivery, the OC added.

Hailing from Narail district, Al-Amin and his mother live at Firingi Bazar.

According to Al-Amin, his entire family was involved in yaba trade. After the death of his father, his mother and aunt started operating the “business”.

The two are listed yaba traders and accused in several narcotics cases, said the OC.

During primary interrogation, Al-Amin said he did not want to follow their footsteps and started working at a readymade garment factory to earn an honest living, said OC Mohsin.

Couple of months ago, he opened up an eatery in the city's Bayezid area with the savings he had.

“But my mother was not happy. She started pushing me into the business to make quick bucks,” Al-Amin told police. At one point, he caved in to pressure from her and started peddling yaba pills, he added.

OC Mohsin said, “Saju Begum gathered the pills from different sources while her sister Runa used to find out or contact potential buyers. Al-Amin used to supply the tablets.”

He said Saju Begum hails from Satkania upazila and Runa's in-laws are from Teknaf.

“Both were sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted by a Narayanganj court in a narcotics case. They later walked out on bail,” said OC Mohsin.

The OC said a case was filed against Al-Amin with Kotwali Police Station. Police are trying to arrest the mother and aunt, he added.