PAKISTAN: Yaba Pills Seized In Trawler Driven By A Bus Engine

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized about 15 lakh yaba tablets worth an estimated Tk 75 crore on the street and arrested 12 people after intercepting a fishing trawler coming to the country from Myanmar early yesterday.

The arrestees, five of whom are Myanmar citizens, were bringing the haul to Chittagong, Rab said.

On information that a trawler was on its way, Rab intercepted it at the outer anchorage of Chittagong port, said Rab-7 Commanding Officer Lt Col Miftah Uddin Ahmed at a press conference at his office yesterday.

Searching the trawler, Rab personnel later uncovered the large haul, he said.

The trawler, named "Mayer Doa [mother's blessings]" was fitted with a bus engine to be able to go faster, he added.

The five arrested Myanmar citizens are Ismail, 20, Abdul Khalek, 20, Saddam Hossain, 19, Nur Alam, 25 and Selim , 20. The rest are Cox's Bazar's Nazir Ahmed, 55, Hashem, 19, Khairul Amin, 20, Zafor, 30, Khokan, 25 and Anisur Rahman, 18 of Bandarban's Chhadek.

In primary interrogation, the arrestees said the haul and the vessel were owned by one Faruque alias Baittya Faruque, 42, of Patiya upazila. Miftah said they were looking for him.

Rab-7 Senior Assistant Director Mimtanur Rahman, quoting the arrestees, said drug traffickers used the trawler to go to Myanmar at least five times and smuggled in about 30 lakh yaba tablets recently.

Miftah said drug traffickers recently started bringing consignments of yaba through unfrequented coastal areas in Chittagong such as Gohira, Potenga, Anwara, Khejurtola, Halishahar, Bhatiyari and Kumira at night.

Since January 2016, Rab-7 recovered over 1.18 crore yaba tablets, he added.

Yaba are tablets containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine.

From ya khayan (energy pill) in its early days to ya maa (horse medicine), the drug was named ya ba (crazy pill) in 1996".It was given to horses when pulling carts up steep hills and for other strenuous work in Shan State.

Ya ba is sometimes called "bhul bhuliya" in India. The name commonly used for it in the Philippines and Indonesia is "shabú". In north Thailand it is often referred to as "chocalee" due to the somewhat sweet taste ya ba leaves in the mouth and its strong chocolate smell. The name commonly used for it in China is "ma-goo" or "ma-guo". In Bangladesh it's colloquially known as "baba".

Ya ba is typically produced in a round pill form. There are many different versions of ya ba, and the most common are red, orange, or lime green in color and carry logos such as "R" or "WY". They are small and round, roughly 6 millimetres (0.24 in) in diameter, which means they can be packed inside a plastic soda straw for easy transportation or in a reusable "mint" container.

Ya ba tablets typically are consumed orally. Another common method is called "chasing the dragon". Users place the ya ba tablet on aluminum foil and heat it from below. As the tablet melts, vapors rise and are inhaled. The drug also may be administered by crushing the tablets into powder, which is then snorted or mixed with a solvent and injected.

When swallowed in pill form the duration of the drug's effect is between 8–16 hours, as compared to 1–3 hours when smoked, while the intensity is considerably reduced. The peak of the drug's effect is followed by a come down period lasting 6–10 hours, during which the user may have difficulty sleeping or eating. Many users report that it takes them up to 24 hours after consumption to be able to fall asleep.

Ya ba is not commonly injected as many intravenous users favour the pure product instead (methamphetamine, called "ice" in Southeast Asia). This illegal drug is especially popular in Thailand, where it is imported from Burma or Laos even though it is sometimes manufactured locally in Thailand.

Typical ya ba users are working males, aged 16–40 years old, and its use is not uncommon among both female and male prostitutes in Thailand and Cambodia.

Myanmar is the largest producer of methamphetamine in the world, with the majority of ya ba found in Thailand being produced in Burma, particularly in the Golden Triangle and northeastern Shan State, which borders Thailand, Laos, and China. In 2010, Burma trafficked 1 billion tablets to neighboring Thailand.

Ethnic militias and rebel groups,in particular the United Wa State Army are responsible for much of this production; however, the Burmese military units are believed to be heavily involved in the trafficking of the drugs.

Ya ba tablets were formerly sold at gas stations and were commonly used by long-haul drivers to stay awake. After many horrific long-distance bus accidents, they were outlawed by the Thai government in 1970.

The deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's campaign from 2003 on to eliminate drug-trafficking further helped to curtail widespread use. In particular, use of the drug by bus drivers and truckers is not as widespread as it was in the 1980s.

As a result of the Thai government crackdown, restricted supply has had an effect on prices, further curtailing the popular use of ya ba. In 1999–2000, when buying a straw-full (around 20 pills) in Chiang Rai Province, north Thailand, ya ba was sold for around 10 baht per pill and commonly used on the go-go circuit and by young "MTV" clubbers.

Retail prices have risen from 100–150 baht (US$3–4) to 250–450 baht per pill as a result of the crackdown, though it remains a popular party drug.

In 2000, ya ba was smuggled across the porous border with Myanmar and from the neighbouring Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai Provinces of Thailand. Illegal traffickers often marketed or promoted their product by claiming that the pills contained up to six percent heroin. Rumour suggested it was produced by the corrupt personnel of Wa State Army in Burma.

In 2014, it was reported that Thailand's northeast provinces have seen a 700 percent increase in the number of people arrested for meth since 2008, according to data from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.

In 2013, authorities counted more than 33,000 meth-related arrests in the northeast. The rapid growth of ya ba use in Isan mirrors that which is occurring across Asia, which now accounts for more than 50 percent of global amphetamine-type stimulant users.

On 16 June 2016, the National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta ruling Thailand, stated that it was planning to decriminalise ya ba in the country.

In 2006, ya ba ma consumption became fashionable for the well-to-do in Bangladesh. A series of highly publicized drug raids in 2007 by authorities implicated some well-known business people.Although the extent of ya ba abuse in Bangladesh is not precisely known, seizures of the drug by authorities are frequent.

It is also believed those who use it on a regular basis are frequently involved in the distribution of the drug, either directly or indirectly.It is commonly known in Bangladesh as "khaon", "pill", "BABA", "gari", "guti", and "bori", among other street names.

Many Rohingya refugees are hired to smuggle yaba from Myanmar into Bangladesh.In 2016, 359 Rohingyas were arrested on yaba-smuggling charges, and up to $29 million worth of yaba was seized by the Bangladeshi authorities.

In February 2010 it was reported that increasingly large quantities of ya ba were being smuggled into Israel by Thai migrant workers, leading to fears that its use would spread to the Israeli club scene, where ecstasy use is already common. In recent years, it has also been used by immigrant populations in the United States, and occasionally as a club drug replacing ecstasy.

The majority of long term effects associated with ya ba are analogous with those of methamphetamine, as ya ba mainly consists of caffeine and methamphetamine. Side effects include long-term decline of cognitive functions.[