Bangladesh kills 86 in a campaign that looks a lot like the Philippines drug war
Dhaka — Bangladesh police have killed at least 86 people and arrested about 7,000 since launching a crackdown on drug trafficking this month, officials said on Monday, raising fears from rights activists of a Philippines-style war on drugs. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the anti-narcotics campaign in early May to tackle the spread of ya ba, as methamphetamine is widely known in Asia, and worth about $3bn annually, government officials say. The drug is sourced from Myanmar’s northeast and smuggled into neighbouring Bangladesh. "In recent times, drug dealing has increased and we feel that people should be alert and motivated to act against it," Devdas Bhattacharya, a senior police official, told reporters. "The process will continue until it’s eradicated totally." He said police arrested six people on Sunday, including a 12-year-old boy from Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim community, who had carried 3,350 ya ba tablets to the capital, Dhaka. Bangladesh has said an influx last year o...
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