NEW DELHI: A cough syrup that provides the much needed sleep to small children and a sigh of relief to tired and weary mothers’ is now a much sought after drug by many addicts in a few dry Indian states and also in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Each time six-year-old Animesh would have a sleepless night of coughing and sneezing, especially during the winter-spring transition, his mother would administer a teaspoon full of Phensedyl. That ensured total bliss! After Animesh suffered severe allergic coughing and sneezing triggered by pollen and allergen, a paediatrician prescribed the codeine-based syrup that would comfort the kid during such allergic attacks.
But while the drug provides many kids like Animesh and even adults’ relief during allergic triggers, it’s a much sought after drug by addicts especially in the dry states and Bangladesh where it serves as replacement to alcohol, banned by law due to its codeine content.
Amid strict vigil on cow smuggling, the peddling of Phensedyl, a legally manufactured drug into neighbouring Bangladesh is at an all-time high according to a senior official of the Border Security Force (BSF) that guards the Indian frontiers. Due to its lucrative returns amid high demand, the smuggling of the codeine-based drug has almost doubled in the last two years, with smugglers finding the cough syrup a more lucrative item, according to sources in the BSF.
This has turned states in the east and northeastern part of India, boarding Bangladesh as the biggest transit hub of the drug and has seen a significant increase in recent times. According to the BSF, the number of units confiscated by BSF guards from the Indian states bordering Bangladesh has gone up from 2.82 lakh in 2021 to over 4.06 lakh in 2022.
The BSF officials in the first quarter of 2023 have already confiscated over 85 lakh units till mid-April. “Smuggling this cough syrup is quite rewarding financially as the cost of one bottle of Phensedyl, which sells for around Rs 170 in India, instantly shoots up to Rs 500 as soon as it crosses the border,” said a senior officer in the BSF.
