Bangladesh set to flag Phensedyl smuggling in DG-level talks with India

Bangladesh is all set to rake up the issue of smuggling of Phensedyl, a codeine-based cough syrup, in a crucial meeting between the two countries in New Delhi this month.

The meet scheduled for February 17 to 20 will be the first director general (DG)-level interaction between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in Dhaka in August last year.

Tensions have been simmering between the two countries after a caretaker government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus replaced the deposed regime.

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Simmering tension

The strain was apparent in the recent remark of Bangladesh’s Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury who was quoted by the Bangladeshi media as saying that the tone of the BGB delegation in the ensuing meeting would be different.

Hardening its stand, a 12-member BGB delegation headed by its chief Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui will strongly raise the issue of unabated smuggling of contraband drugs, particularly Phensedyl, from India, allegedly under the guise of medicines, sources in the Bangladeshi establishment confided to The Federal.

The smuggling of Phensedyl has been a major challenge for the border guarding forces of the two countries. With Bangladesh’s change in attitude over the smuggling issue, Phensedyl is likely to become a new thorn in the bilateral relations between the two countries just as Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid drug, has become in US’ ties with Canada and Mexico after the Donald Trump administration took charge.

The current Bangladeshi establishment is not willing to see the menace as a mere law and order issue. It’s insinuating that the cough syrup is deliberately pumped into Bangladesh where Phensedyl abuse is a major public health issue.

‘Wrong to blame India’

“They manufacture Phensedyl and smuggle it into Bangladesh. Although they claim to produce it as medicine, it is actually made as a narcotic,” Chowdhury was further quoted as saying by the media in his country.

The BGB would flag India’s failure to prevent the smuggling of Phensedyl and would seek to know why it is so difficult to neutralise the cartel involved in it, sources further said.

Confirming that the BGB listed the Phensedyl issue at the top of its agenda submitted for the meeting, a BSF official said it would be wrong to blame India for the menace.

He said the cough syrup is consumed by many in Bangladesh in large quantities, instead of small doses, to get a kick, considering it as an alternative to alcohol, which is prohibited in the country.

Growing demand

A bottle of Phensedyl that cost approximately Rs 200 in India, could fetch four times more than its real price after crossing the border, the BSF official added.

Due to growing demand and price, the consignment is illegally brought to the states bordering Bangladesh by diverting stocks with forged documents.

Tripura and West Bengal that share long borders with Bangladesh are the main transit points for Phensedyl smuggling.

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Massive recoveries

BSF’s South Bengal frontier alone seized 1,73,628 bottles of Phensedyl worth around Rs 3.6 crore last year. It recovered over 62,000 bottles of Phensedyl from three underground storage tanks near the border in Nadia district in January this year. The haul indicates a spurt in smuggling.

Border killings due to BSF’s alleged trigger-happy approach, illegal infiltration from India and construction work like border fencing along the zero lines are some other issues Bangladesh would raise, underlining them as major irritants in the bilateral relations. They are among the 12 issues Bangladesh will raise in the meeting, sources added.