Women at the Centre of Gazipur’s Drug Trade

Bangla Press Desk:  Tongi has long been synonymous with the drug trade in Gazipur due to its strategic location and strong transport links with the capital.

The slums in areas including Hajir Majar, Bank Math, Keranirtek and Ershad Nagar have emerged as major drug hubs, where drugs worth crores of taka are reportedly traded every day.Behind much of the drug trade are five women—Momela Begum, Afrina Akter, Moyna Khatun, Kulsum and Karima Begum—who have amassed huge wealth through the illegal business.

Their drug trade has ruined the lives of many people, with some dying prematurely after becoming addicted, while others have lost their wealth and become destitute. Meanwhile, the women allegedly involved in the trade have become millionaires.

Outside Tongi, Tahmina and Asha of Laxmipura and Dalia Begum of Kashimpur have also reportedly amassed substantial wealth through drug dealing. More than 100 women allegedly work under these female drug traders.

Momela Begum

Momela Begum, 46, is one of Tongi’s major wholesale drug dealers. She is the wife of Jahangir Alam of Bank Math slum in Tongi.

She began her drug business with cannabis before expanding into large consignments of phensedyl from border areas. She later became involved in heroin trafficking and eventually shifted to yaba.

She is an accused in 19 drug cases and allegedly brought yaba consignments directly from Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar.

Momela’s name features on a top police list of drug traders. Over nearly 18 years in the trade, she has allegedly built assets worth crores of taka.

She owns a multi-storey luxury house named Jahid Hasan Villa on Kuddus Khalifa Road in Markun under Ward 47 of Tongi. She also bought another house for around Tk50 lakh on Silmun East Para Jogibari Road in the same ward.

She has another semi-pucca house on nearly four kathas of land in Karmatala East Para residential area of Pubail, along with several semi-pucca rooms in Bank Math slum.

She allegedly bought four mini-trucks and CNG-run auto-rickshaws for her husband and a private car worth Tk20 lakh for her son-in-law, Hridoy, who reportedly works as a police informant.

She also allegedly owns several crores of taka in assets under her name and other names in different parts of Tongi and Gazipur.

Despite owning several houses and vehicles, Momela has continued to live in the slum. She has been arrested several times. Police most recently arrested her on 2 November last year with 400 yaba tablets and 40 grammes of heroin.

Moyna Khatun

Moyna Khatun, 55, is another female drug trader from Bank Math slum. She was a joint convener of the now-banned Mohila Awami League in local Ward 56.

Moyna, who faces around a dozen cases, allegedly has an entire family involved in drug dealing. Her daughter Nargis and daughter-in-law Rozi are also reportedly on the list of top drug traders.

Nargis has been arrested several times by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police with large quantities of drugs.

Moyna’s brother Shafiqul Islam was arrested by Cox’s Bazar police with 6,000 yaba tablets while allegedly bringing a consignment from Teknaf. After serving two years in jail and securing bail, he was again arrested in the capital’s Jatrabari area with a large quantity of yaba.

Rani, 40, and her son Rabbani, 25, reportedly buy drugs wholesale from Moyna and sell them at retail level. Moyna’s son Tajul Islam Taju is also a drug dealer and faces several cases.

Moyna and Tajul have allegedly built assets worth several crores of taka in Gazipur and Madaripur with proceeds from the drug trade.

In Tongi’s Silmun Jamburertek area, Tajul allegedly bought a tin-shed house built on 8.59 decimals of land in the name of his father-in-law, Soleman Farazi.

The family also owns several bighas of land in Hindupura of Shibchar, Madaripur. Most of Tajul’s properties are reportedly registered in the name of his wife, Rozi.

Afrina Akter

Afrina Akter, 40, is another major drug trader in Tongi. She lives in Bank Math slum and is the wife of Jamal Hossain.

Locally known as ‘Boro Apa’, she allegedly runs the drug business with the help of her husband Jamal and brother Srabon.

She was once a major wholesale phensedyl trader in Tongi. She now reportedly deals in yaba and has amassed substantial wealth through the drug trade.

Kulsum

Kulsum, 35, is a major drug trader in Keranirtek slum in Tongi. She allegedly operates a large network of people involved in the drug trade.

Once extremely poor, Kulsum’s fortunes changed after she became involved in drug dealing. She and her associates allegedly occupied railway-owned land and established a drug-selling spot there.

She has reportedly bought land, luxury houses and cars and now leads an affluent lifestyle.

In July, police from Tongi East Police Station detained her sister Nargis with eight kilogrammes of cannabis. Rakib, her sister’s son, is reportedly one of Kulsum’s key associates in the drug trade.

Karima Begum

Karima Begum, 35, is another major drug trader from Keranirtek slum in Tongi.

Police arrested her on 18 July. Karima, who allegedly deals drugs, faces around a dozen drug cases.

After years in the drug trade, she has reportedly accumulated assets worth crores of taka, including several multi-storey buildings.

Dalia

Six or seven years ago, Dalia, 38, of Kathaltala in Nayapara, Kashimpur, Gazipur City, worked as a domestic helper in other people’s homes. Her husband, Washim, drove a rickshaw-van.

The couple now reportedly owns five houses in the area. Two are six-storey buildings, while the others are tin-shed structures.

Additional Commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police Md Belayat Hossain told Kaler Kantho that many slums in Gazipur city were involved in the drug trade.

“Numerous raids have been conducted over the past eight months to stop the trade. Many small and large-scale drug dealers have been arrested with substantial quantities of drugs,” he said.

He said electricity connections to some slums had recently been cut off and that drug dens in the slums were demolished on Monday with assistance from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), reclaiming government land.

“Raids will be conducted in all slums in phases to make Tongi drug-free,” he added.