2 NSU, 1 IUB students detained with LSD drug

Police have arrested two students of North-South University (NSU) and one student of Independent University (IUB) with hallucinogenic drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in a raid in the capital on Wednesday night.

This drug has been seized for the first time in the country, claimed police.

The detainees are - Sadman Sakib Rupol (25), Ashab Wadud Turjo, (22), students of NSU, and Adib Ashraf (23), student of IUB. 

"The police have seized 200 strips of LSD imported from the Netherlands," said AKM Hafiz Akhter, additional commissioner of police at the DB while briefing media at the DMP (Dhaka Metropolitan Police) Media Centre in the city.

He said, "The ongoing investigation into the death of Dhaka University student Hafizur Rahman has led to the raid and the recovery of LSD drug for the first time in Bangladesh."

"However, it is still under investigation if the drug had any role to play behind Hafizur's death, whose throat-slit body was identified at the DMCH mortuary eight days after his death."

Reportedly, the gang has been active for the last one year in the capital city targeting upper-class clients, especially college and university students.

"The drug cartel has been using the heavily encrypted instant messaging app Telegram for marketing purposes while payments were made through Paypal mail," he added.

According to a DMP press release, the group used to sell LSD through a Facebook ID named "Apnar Abba" and a group called "Butter, Brownies and Beyond". Rupol manages the group consisting of over one thousand members.

Sourced from the Netherlands, the drug entered the country in a parcel looking like a letter post stamp, a blot of which sells for Tk5,000-7,000.

Hafiz Akhter further said the DMP will take the help of the International Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol, to prevent the supply of this drug.

LSD – a synthetically made drug from lysergic acid found in "ergot fungus" that grows on rye and other grains – is commonly found in various forms, such as blotter paper, tablet or capsule form, liquid or cube form.  

The drug has an effect on the brain that induces hallucinations. As a result, those who use this drug see things of different colours and shapes that do not exist in the world. The drug also enhances the functioning of all the nerves in the human brain.