Heroin, the most potent illicit drug classified under the ‘A’ category, is now going to emerge as a serious threat in the country, as the smuggling of this life-threatening narcotics has been on a growing trend over the past few years.

Alongside consumption, the country has also become a transit route for smuggling of the item into some other countries. According to the statistics of the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), law enforcement agencies seized 4025.478 kilograms of heroin from across the country from 2009 to 2023.

Of them, 700.928 kg was seized last year, 338.279 kg in 2022, 441.221 kg in 2021, 210.438 kg in 2020, 323.279 kg in 2019, 451.506 kg in 2018, 401.633 kg in 2017, 266.785 kg in 2016, 107.539 kg in 2015, 78.303 kg in 2014, 123.732 kg in 2013, 126.368 kg in 2012, 107.499 kg in 2011, 188.185 kg in 2010 and 159.783 kg in 2009. DNC Director (operations & intelligence) Tanvir Momtaz told the Daily Sun that they are working ceaselessly to check the smuggling of heroin like other drugs.

According to a bulletin of County of Los Angeles Public Health, heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, precursor chemicals are substances that are used to manufacture heroin from raw opium while there are many such chemicals, the chemical acetic anhydride is crucial in the heroin manufacturing process.

According to a report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),  Myanmar has become the world’s top producer of opium, surpassing Afghanistan in 2023. The decline in opium cultivation in Afghanistan, following a drug ban by the Taliban in 2022, has led to a global supply shift to Myanmar.

Sources in the DNC said the cultivation of poppies in Myanmar and the production of precursor chemicals in India and China are cited as reasons for the surge in heroin in Bangladesh.

Myanmar to Tripura in India to Zakiganj in Sylhet has become a safe route for heroin smuggling, added sources. The smuggling of heroin into Bangladesh began in the 1980s, which was then a major threat for the country. But gradually, Yaba and some other drugs take the place of heroin.

Wishing not to be named, an officer said, “Heroin has now become a significant concern due to increased cultivation of poppy in Myanmar and the production of precursor chemicals in India.”

According to a bulletin of County of Los Angeles Public Health, people inject, sniff, snort, or smoke heroin. Heroin enters the brain rapidly and binds to opioid receptors on cells located in many areas, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure and in controlling heart rate, sleeping, and breathing. The drug is addictive and there is a high risk of overdose and death from using it.