2kgs crystal meth recovered from drive in Teknaf Rohingya camp: DNC

The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) said they have recovered a big consignment of highly addictive crystal meth near a Rohingya camp in Teknaf, known as the traditional gateway of yaba pills into Bangladesh from Myanmar.

A DNC team conducted the drive near Rohingya camp 28 of Teknaf upazila and recovered two kilogrammes of crystal meth, also known as ice, and arrested a Bangladeshi national named Md Abdullah, 31.

Muhammad Ahsanul Jabbar, director general of DNC, disclosed the information while addressing a briefing at DNC headquarters in the capital's Segunbagicha this afternoon.

As ice has no established market in Bangladesh yet, quoting various journal reports, DG Jabbar said the price of the recovered two kgs of crystal meth is around Tk 10 crore.

The DNC chief said mainly people of higher income groups use the substance.

Crystal meth is the purest form of methamphetamine.

DNC officials said it is the biggest haul of ice ever recovered in Bangladesh.

Detective Branch of police had previously recovered 600 grams of crystal meth on November 6 last year and before that, the DNC had recovered around 500 grams in June 2019.  

The consignment went from Thailand to Myanmar and then entered Bangladesh, said the DNC DG.

"We were working on the consignment information for the last six months," he said.

But the DG could not give any specific information about where it was going and who the buyers were. "It will be disclosed after further investigation," he said.

A case was filed with Teknaf Police Station in this regard against Abdullah and his brother Abdur Rahman, who is on the run.

Asked about the payment, DNC DG said they are yet to get details about how the ice was smuggled into Bangladesh and those responsible for it.

After the recovery, the DNC sent the sample to their laboratory and got a confirmation report that it was 100 percent methamphetamine.

DG Jabbar said that ice is hundred times more powerful than yaba pills.

"We have increased vigilance so that the drug is not able to spread in the country and the syndicate is not able to create a market," he added.