A sharp rise in the smuggling of cocaine, which mainly enters Bangladesh from African and South American countries, has become a new headache for authorities.

Law enforcers have seized around 48.358 kilogrammes of cocaine in the first six months of this year alone, according to the Annual Report 2023-2024 of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC).

There has also been a rise in the number of seizures this year compared to the previous two years.

The annual report shows that around 13kg of cocaine was seized in 2023, while the figure was 4.57kg in 2022.

On January 25 this year, DNC, along with Airport Armed Police Battalion (APBn), seized 8.3kg of cocaine at Dhaka Airport, a record bust in the country.

The DNC officials found that the smugglers were transporting cocaine to India through Bangladesh from certain East African countries for years. Law enforcers arrested a Malawian, four Nigerians, and a Tanzanian for their involvement in the smuggling at that time.

DNC officials said the international narcotics syndicates are exploiting Bangladesh as a smuggling route and that the majority of cocaine consignments came from Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.

Tanvir Momtaz, director (operations & intelligence) of the DNC, said, "Cocaine is mainly entering the country through air routes from African countries. The smugglers are using Bangladesh as the transit."

"The cocaine consignments are then smuggled out of the country, mainly towards India, since we share a porous border," he added.

DNC officials believe that cocaine currently has no market in Bangladesh due to it being highly expensive, as each kg of cocaine sells for around Tk 10 crore.

DNC officials said the international narcotics syndicates are exploiting Bangladesh as a smuggling route and the majority of cocaine consignments came from Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.

Besides cocaine, three other major narcotics -- yaba, phensedyl, and heroin -- which enters from neighbouring countries are also harming Bangladesh, said Khondoker Mostafizur Rahman, director general of the DNC, while addressing a seminar at the Dhaka district administration office.

According to DNC Annual Report 2023-24, law enforcement agencies recovered around 700kg of heroin in 2023, which is double the amount seized in 2022 -- around 338kg.

In the first six months of this year, already 357kg of heroin have been seized. However, reports show a decrease in yaba and phensedyl seizures.

The DNC annual report shows that the law enforcers seized around 4.29 core pieces of yaba in 2023, while the figure was 4.58 crore in 2022. They also seized around 82.8 litres of phensedyl in 2023, while the figure was 286 litres in 2022.

DNC Director Tanvir Momtaz believes that there is a decline in yaba and phensedyl seizures as narcotic addicts are now gradually shifting to new drugs like crystal meth.

"But the smuggling of yaba and phensedyl remains a concern for us, and we are working tirelessly to prevent it," he explained.

DNC officials have identified four main bordering points for smuggling narcotics into Bangladesh from neighbouring countries like Myanmar and India.

Regarding this, Rahman said, "The narcotics are entering the country through the borders in Teknaf, Rajshahi, Jashore, and Brahmanbaria. But it also comes from various other border areas."

Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Tanvir Ahmed also stressed community empowerment and social awareness to control narcotics.