BIMSTEC nations vulnerable to opium drug menace

Geographic proximity of the seven-nation BIMSTEC to the area stretching from Afghanistan to Myanmar and Thailand, which are major opium producing regions of the world, puts all countries, including Bangladesh, in a precarious position as far as the drug menace is concerned.

This was the unanimous conclusion of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) 'Conference on Combating Drug Trafficking', which ended in New Delhi yesterday, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

India's position is more vulnerable as it is sandwiched between Golden Crescent (Afghanistan) and Golden Triangle (Myanmar-Thailand), officials attending the two-day conference said.

The bumper harvest of opium in Afghanistan in the last few years has given rise to an increased supply of heroin in all the BIMSTEC countries—Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

Another major area of concern is the large number of methamphetamine manufacturing facilities prevalent in some of the BIMSTEC countries. These facilities manufacture a large quantity of methamphetamine, which is further trafficked to all the BIMSTEC countries, they said.

Another point of worry is drug trafficking through the sea route to the BIMSTEC nations. While the Bay of Bengal facilitates trade worth billions of dollars, drug traffickers also use this vast network to their advantage.

Two recent seizures of 371 kilograms and 1,156 kg methamphetamine by Indian authorities from two vessels in the Bay of Bengal are two glaring examples of this.

The BIMSTEC region is one of the most thriving centres of pharmaceutical manufacture and trade. It is also in close proximity to China, which is another leading country in the pharma sector.

This has also made the BIMSTEC region vulnerable to the diversion and trafficking in pharmaceutical drugs.

The developments in technology have thrown a challenge to the drug law enforcement agencies. The use of darknet is one of the ugly facets of technological use in drug trafficking. The combination of darknet and courier or postal deliveries have made the psychotropic trafficking more anonymous in nature.

The conference witnessed a thematic session on maritime trafficking of drugs in the BIMSTEC region where a call was given for more co-ordination and information-sharing among the member-nations.

It discussed the need for regional co-operation to tackle the problem of manufacture and trafficking of methamphetamine in the region.

Concern over the emergence of Afghanistan and Iran as major centres for plant-based methamphetamine was shared by most members of BIMSTEC countries.

Keeping in mind the diversion and trafficking of pharmaceutical drugs to which the BIMSTEC countries are subject to, there was a discussion on possible diversion of lawfully-manufactured psychotropic drugs and trafficking of pharmaceutical drugs.