Bangladesh, facing the problem over the delay in the repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar, appears to grapple with another intricate trouble concerning Rohingyas as illegal Yaba trading is now being manipulated and controlled by Rohingya drug peddlers from their camps in Cox’s Bazaar.
Rohingyas’ dealing in the Yaba pills, being smuggled into Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar, has taken centre stage in Cox’s Bazaar, indicating the refugees’ possible indictment in other social crimes inside the country’s territory. Speaking on this issue, Wing Commander Azim Ahamed, Commanding Officer of the elite force Rapid Action Battalion RAB- 15 said, “After a widespread campaign against the drug dealers, almost all local drug traders are now under surveillance. But the Rohingyas are taking the help of local drug dealers.”
“The Yaba trade is now being controlled by the Rohingyas from their camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf”, he added. Yaba is a combination of methamphetamine, a powerful and addictive stimulant, and caffeine. Yaba, which means crazy medicine, produced in Southeast and East Asia specially in neighboring Myanmar is sold in tablet form, generally no larger than a pencil eraser. They are brightly colored, usually reddish-orange or green.
The infiltration of hundreds of Rohingyas into Bangladesh from Myanmar has compounded the situation in the bordering areas of Cox's Bazar district. To control human trafficking and drug trafficking, the government deployed a new and special unit of the elite force RAB in March last, thereby increasing the number of law enforcers.
Since March last, the new unit of the elite force RAB 15 arrested 172 people, mostly Rohingayas, and recovered 11, 58 346 Yaba pills. Law enforcement agencies and other sources said after the launching of a nationwide anti-drug campaign, the focus was on Cox's Bazaar, a bordering district, and on the entry point of Yaba pills along Myanmar frontier.
Since May 2018, over 70 Yaba smugglers, some of them are Rohingyas, have been killed in ‘shootouts’ in Cox’s Bazar and over one hundred Yaba smugglers have surrendered to police. Yaba smuggling from Myanmar could not be stopped, rather Yaba pills are being flooded in the country, Azim Ahamed RAB-15 CEO said, adding that “The tactics of Yaba trafficking has changed, and the smugglers are supposedly taking refuge in the camps. The entire Yaba trade has gone under the control of the Rohingyas”.
“The local drug traffickers are now living in camps completely under the Rohingyas’ shelter. The Rohingya camps are a specialized area, and as the camps are densely populated it becomes hard for law enforcers to carry out operations there”, he added. Sources said the Rohingya armed groups are controlling the Yaba business. They mainly operate the activities from Kutupalong and Balukhali camps in Ukhiya Upazilla. Two other major dens of Yaba smugglers are Chakmar Kul and Unchiprang camps of Teknaf.
Azim Ahamed said all the camps have turned into safe havens for Yaba traffickers. A recent report of Coxs Bazaar police sent to the police headquarters said many among the 1.1 million Rohigyas residing in Cox's Bazar refugee camps were involved in yaba trades. They were crossing the border easily as there were no barbed wire fences there, bringing Yaba pills and arms, it stated.
Department of Narcotics sources said, 55 million Yaba pills were seized in the nationwide crackdowns between May 2018 and May 2019. In 2017 the figure was 40 million, 10 million more than in 2016.
