Women are increasingly being used to transport and sell drugs in Rangpur and surrounding areas, with law enforcement agencies arresting six women and recovering several drug consignments over the past week.
The recent arrests involved consignments of cannabis, heroin and yaba, according to law enforcement sources.
The trend is also reflected in data from the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU). Its Annual Report 2021-22 found that women accounted for 6 percent of the people involved in 163 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and suspicious activity reports (SARs) analysed in connection with drug trafficking.
The report said 10 women were among the people involved in those cases, while men accounted for the remaining 94 percent.
The BFIU said the number of women involved in drug trafficking and drug use was increasing, although tracing them remained difficult. It also noted that women’s involvement appeared negligible in STR/SAR data but that media reports and arrests during anti-narcotics operations indicated a more significant role.
The report observed that women’s involvement was particularly visible at the marginal level, while men were assumed to be the main beneficiaries of drug trafficking.
Separately, the report cited a UN survey estimating that 6.5 million people in Bangladesh were addicted to drugs, with men accounting for 87 percent and women 13 percent.
In the latest incidents in Rangpur, Special Response Battalion-13 (SRB-13) arrested two women with 7.5kg of cannabis in Gangachara upazila on Thursday evening.
The suspects were identified as Moni, 35, wife of Abdul Haque of Babupada Railgate area in Rangpur city, and Munni Begum, 55, wife of late Morshed Mia of Robertson Ganj area. SRB filed a case over the incident.
Earlier, on September 28, SRB searched a passenger bus on the Rangpur-Dhaka highway in the Islampur area of Pairaband Union in Mithapukur upazila and arrested two women with 88 grams of heroin.
They were identified as Josna Begum, 35, and Behula Begum, 35.
On the night of September 27, police arrested Nur Islam Sheikh alias Bhola, 45, and his wife Shahnaz Begum, 40, from Bonchuki village in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat. Police recovered 2kg of cannabis from the bathroom of their house.
In another incident on September 28, the Rangpur district detective police arrested Irene Begum, 28, from Mithapukur with 80 yaba tablets.
Law enforcement sources said drug consignments were regularly entering Rangpur city and surrounding districts, with women increasingly being used to transport and sell some of the drugs.
Although several people have been arrested in recent operations, some individuals allegedly involved in the trade remain beyond the reach of law enforcement agencies, the sources said.
Biplab Kumar Goswami, senior assistant director (media) of Rangpur SRB, said SRB-13 would continue intelligence operations and other activities as part of the government’s zero-tolerance policy against drugs.
