Sherpur Correspondent

Despite a stream of allegations regarding the dominance of drug traffickers along Sherpur's border in the Garo Hills, narcotics smuggling shows no signs of stopping. Instead, allegations have surfaced that traffickers are turning the area into a "forbidden zone" to block journalists from entering and gathering information on drug smuggling. 

Locals claim that if any journalist enters the border areas of Gomra, Sandhyakura, Holdigram, and Rangtia, they are met with death threats.

Previously, Khorshed Alam, the Sherpur Correspondent  of The Country Today, came under attack while gathering news on drug trafficking. On the night of August 15, 2025, a mob attack was allegedly launched against him at the Sandhyakura market in Nalkura union. He was severely injured in the attack, during which his motorcycle, mobile phone, and essential documents were snatched. While police later recovered the motorcycle, his mobile phone remains unrecovered nearly a year later.

Locals allege that massive quantities of narcotics are smuggled freely day and night through these areas bordering India, with various vehicles being utilized for transport. Although law enforcement drives have led to the seizure of a few vehicles, smuggling has not been completely halted. Locals complain that many drug traffickers remain openly active despite facing active cases and arrest warrants.

Allegations suggest that a section of those involved in drug smuggling enjoy local influence and receive various forms of protection and legal backing. Whenever a dealer is arrested, they reportedly secure bail quickly and resume the same trade. Locals claim that several families belonging to a specific clan have been tied to this business for a long time; however, these allegations could not be independently verified.

In 2025, after a report was published about Sakhina Begum, a starving and homeless widow from Gomra village in Nalkura union, financial aid poured in from various individuals and organizations. A tin-shed house was built for her using those funds. When journalist Khorshed Alam visited the site during construction, various pieces of information regarding local drug smuggling came to his attention, according to his claims.

He alleged  that a local union parishad member warned him not to visit the area around that time. Shortly after reports on drug smuggling were published, the attack on him took place at the Sandhyakura market.

Villagers claim that eight covered vans are being used to transport drugs. While four of them were seized by law enforcement, the remaining four are allegedly still being used for trafficking. Locals claim that drug smuggling has long become a generational profession for many families in those areas, with one generation handing the trade down to the next.

However, no official or reliable statistics are available to back up claims made by locals that "90 percent of the area's people are involved in drug smuggling."

Villagers recount that in 2025, several individuals from the area traveled in a pickup truck carrying narcotics to Phulpur in Mymensingh. After being tracked by an intelligence agency, they fled with the pickup truck to a rural area in Nakla upazila, where they clashed with locals who suspected them of cattle rustling. Two individuals, Mosleuddin and Nur Islam, were subsequently killed in a mass beating, according to locals.

It is alleged that following their deaths, other members of their families re-engaged in the drug trade.

Expressing sharp frustration over border drug smuggling during the monthly meeting of the Jhenaigati Upazila Law and Order Committee held this month, Member of Parliament Mahmudul Haque Rubel and other committee members stressed the need to step up law enforcement operations to curb trafficking.

Nalkura Union Parishad Chairman Rukunuzzaman stated that alongside raising awareness among local residents, law enforcement drives must be intensified to prevent drug smuggling in the area.

Jhenaigati Police Station OC  S. M. Nur Mohammad said he recently joined the station. Following his joining, several operations led to the recovery of over Tk 3 lakh worth of narcotics, and cases have been filed against drug dealers. Police efforts to stop drug smuggling remain ongoing.

Yet locals raise a pressing question: despite law enforcement raids, cases, and arrest warrants, how does drug trafficking persist along the border?