AFP
Dhaka
Bangladesh seized a record 53 million methamphetamine pills in 2018 –up 33 percent in a year–amid a deadly nationwide crackdown on the trade, officials said Sunday.
Nearly 300 suspected drug dealers were killed last year, according to authorities, who insisted the seizure figure was proof that their campaign was working. Rights groups said the record haul showed the deaths had failed to make an impact on the trade.
The government Department of Narcotics Control said the drug–popularly known as ‘yaba’, a Thai word meaning ‘crazy medicine’–was seized across the South Asian nation of 165 million people.
"It is the highest amount seized in a year,” Bazlur Rahman, department deputy director, said. Another senior official said record haul was proof that crackdown launched in May 2018 was yielding "positive” results.
Dhaka
Bangladesh seized a record 53 million methamphetamine pills in 2018 –up 33 percent in a year–amid a deadly nationwide crackdown on the trade, officials said Sunday.
Nearly 300 suspected drug dealers were killed last year, according to authorities, who insisted the seizure figure was proof that their campaign was working. Rights groups said the record haul showed the deaths had failed to make an impact on the trade.
The government Department of Narcotics Control said the drug–popularly known as ‘yaba’, a Thai word meaning ‘crazy medicine’–was seized across the South Asian nation of 165 million people.
"It is the highest amount seized in a year,” Bazlur Rahman, department deputy director, said. Another senior official said record haul was proof that crackdown launched in May 2018 was yielding "positive” results.