Bogura, a key northern district of Bangladesh, is increasingly becoming a drug supply centre or “dumping point,” despite regular law-enforcement raids, arrests and awareness programmes. Authorities say established traffickers and newly involved young people are active in the trade, making identification difficult. The Department of Narcotics Control detained a couple in an anti-drug operation on August 20.

From January 1 to July 31 this year, the department conducted 1,255 operations in Bogura, arresting 560 people and filing 451 cases while seizing large quantities of narcotics. During the same period in 2025, authorities conducted 2,242 operations and arrested 972 people. Nearly 2,000 people received treatment at the district’s 19 drug rehabilitation centres over the past seven months.

Officials say drugs including phensedyl, buprenorphine injections, cannabis and tapentadol tablets enter northern areas through border routes, while large yaba consignments from Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar are allegedly stored in Bogura before wider distribution. Anti-drug billboards have been installed at five main entry and exit points, with expanded campaigns planned across 109 union councils and municipal areas.