It's painful to see the manner in which the government's much-vaunted anti-drug campaign in Teknaf – which got Yaba traders to "surrender" promising not to go back to their ignoble business – has fallen flat on its face. As a report in this paper has revealed, most of these seasoned Yaba dealers (some of them godfathers) managed to get bail with their "promises" and went back to their old trade. Should we attribute this failure to the naiveté demonstrated in taking a soft approach to rein in the big fish in the Yaba business, or was this just a contrived publicity stunt all along? Either way, it's evident that the cancerous spread of this trade in Teknaf and other areas of Cox's Bazar is not going to be contained any time soon.

Should we attribute this failure to the naiveté demonstrated in taking a soft approach to rein in the big fish in the Yaba business, or was this just a contrived publicity stunt all along?

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According to our report, around 123 top narcotics dealers surrendered to the police in 2019 after a countrywide crackdown against drugs. Among them were four brothers of a former lawmaker. Reportedly, one of the brothers, who was released on bail in 2020 on the condition that he would not return to the drug trade, was now back in the business and allegedly sheltering other drug smugglers. Another released Yaba dealer has become the chairman of Teknaf Union Parishad, but at the same time he is reportedly back in the business of drug trafficking as well. It is obvious that the involvement of politically influential individuals in the narcotics trade has made it impossible to curb, let alone end this dangerous trade.

When drug dealers become local government representatives or are family members of lawmakers, how realistic is the idea of adopting a lenient attitude to handling them or curtailing this nefarious business? How do they even become elected councillors, union parishad members or union chairmen? It is frightening to know that many of these very godfathers, with a clean chit from the police, now play a leading role in law-and-order meetings. One can only imagine the state of law and order in these areas!

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Back to yaba biz after weathering the storm

At least 299 individuals were reportedly killed in so-called "gunfights" during the drive against narcotics in Cox's Bazar. These deaths have not helped to stop Yaba from entering the border points or being sold all over the country or smuggled to another country. Meanwhile, the "soft approach" to haul in drug lords has also come to naught – which casts doubt on whether the authorities are at all serious about making Cox's Bazar and other districts free from the clutches of narcotics. If they are, then they must prove it through action and put an end to the political patronage of the trade. They must remove the loopholes that allow kingpins to get away with little punishment and come back stronger and more dangerous.