The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) says it has uncovered an online drug-selling network operating around two private universities in the capital’s Bashundhara Residential Area. According to the agency, the network operates a website and a secret Telegram group where “kush” and synthetic cannabis are readily available.
According to DNC sources, a network has emerged that sells drugs online. Most of its members are university students. They distribute visiting cards to students who use drugs, approaching them as they move around campuses. The cards contain QR codes that direct interested people to a website. From there, they are invited to join a secret Telegram group.
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, deputy director of the DNC’s Dhaka Divisional Intelligence Office, told Prothom Alo that drug dealers were increasingly using technology to devise new ways to sell drugs. Intelligence teams identify such activities through cyber patrolling and subsequently conduct raids, he said.
He added that the raid yielded high-potency synthetic cannabis, kush seeds and various items of drug-processing equipment. A student was arrested during the operation.
DNC sources said the agency was monitoring drug dealers’ activities both on the ground and online. Efforts were underway to identify those conducting drug businesses under the cover of technology and bring them to justice, they added.
‘250 students in Telegram group’
On Friday, a DNC team led by Assistant Director Mostak Ahmed raided a flat in the capital’s Bhatara area and arrested a young man, Saim Islam, 19, with 300 grams of cannabis.
During questioning, Saim told DNC officials that he was a student at a private university. He had created a website two months earlier to sell drugs online. He subsequently formed a secret Telegram group for people who expressed interest through the website. Around 250 students from two private universities who use drugs were members of the group, he said.
Citing Saim’s interrogation, officials said he had spent two months experimenting with different methods before beginning to sell “kush” and synthetic cannabis two weeks ago.
A student at a private university, who spoke to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said several drug-dealing networks were active around private universities in the Bashundhara Residential Area. There were several drug hotspots, the student said, adding that drugs were increasingly being delivered to people’s homes after they placed orders online.
Following Saim’s arrest, DNC Inspector Mohammad Khorshed Alam filed a case with Bhatara police station.
According to the first information report (FIR), a DNC team conducted a raid in the area based on a tip-off. The team searched a flat and recovered 300 grams of cannabis wrapped in white polythene. A used mobile phone was also seized.
The FIR states that Saim, who was arrested in the case, is from Bakerganj in Barishal. He lived in a flat in the Lichubagan area of Joar Sahara, Bhatara.