Dhaka to Delhi: crack down on drug factories near border

DHAKA - Bangladesh has urged India to crack down on factories that make the banned Phensedyl syrup near the border. Two million bottles of Phensedyl were seized last year.

Popular with drug addicts, the banned syrup is being smuggled by organised drug peddlers and individuals visiting India. Its consumption and smuggling have increased in the recent months, New Age newspaper said Monday.

The syrup, the ingredients of which include codeine phosphate and ephedrine, has been smuggled into Bangladesh, according to the narcotics control department.

In March, Bangladesh Rifles handed over to its Indian counterparts a list of 32 Phensedyl factories on the Indian side of the border and sought action against them. But BDR sources claim that steps were yet to be taken to address the issue.

Senior border guard officials of both sides, who met here Sunday, expressed concern over continued smuggling of different types of drugs, including heroin and Phensedyl, said a Bangladeshi official who attended the meeting.

Bangladesh Rifles Deputy Director General, Brigadier General Obaidul Haque, told New Age: “We have provided the Indian side with a list of the Phensedyl factories on the other side of the border marking their locations, so that the Indian authorities can take action in order to save their youth as well as ours from the curse of drug abuse …but powerful cartels control the drug smuggling.”

Bangladesh authorities believe the actual quantity of Phensedyl smuggled into the country during the period was five times the quantity seized.