While people remained imprisoned in the lockdown enforced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, smugglers sent thousands of bottles of cough medicine Phensedyl from India to Bangladesh in large quantities. According to a report by the Border Security Force (BSF), this work has been carried out with the connivance of pharmaceutical companies, agents, and influential people. The BSF has caught thousands of bottles of this syrup during this period.
Animals too have been smuggled before
A senior home ministry official said that the smuggling of Phensedyl is a major hurdle in India-Bangladesh relations. To eliminate this problem, the central, state governments and security agencies need to adopt a collective approach. The anti-drug department says that the difficult and rugged mountainous region and lifestyle along the four thousand kilometers of Indo-Bangladesh border is also helpful in this smuggling. Bangladesh has been smuggling animals extensively through this route. But over the past decade, BSF’s strict animal traffickers have broken their back. Now, with the help of the local people, they are compensating this deficit through the smuggling of Phensedyl.
33,536 bottles of Phensedyl recovered from smugglers
The BSF has recovered 33,536 bottles of Phensedyl from smugglers along the Bangladesh border bordering South Bengal between March 25 and May 24. Last year, 30,204 bottles were recovered during this period. Last year, BSF had recovered about two lakh bottles of this syrup at this border. Phensedyl phlegm syrup contains the amount of drug codeine.
Alcohol is banned in Bangladesh, so addicts use Phensedyl cuff syrup for intoxication. Especially the youth likes it more. If this syrup is consumed in large quantities, it causes mild intoxication. Bangladesh banned this syrup too long ago. Bangladesh has also been accusing BSF and other agencies of not taking strict action to stop its smuggling.
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