His notoriety in the world of narcotics trade had police chase after him for years before he was caught in 2013. Now, his days are spent making rounds of courts for case hearings.
“There are a dozen cases against me which are on trial,” the drug dealer told the Dhaka Tribune.
He didn’t give his real name because of security reasons, asking us to address him as Karim.
The Dhaka Tribune met Karim recently at a Dhaka court while he was waiting for the hearing on one of his cases to begin. In his late 30s, Karim, once the right-hand man of wanted yaba trader Amin Huda, seemed reluctant to talk at first, but eventually warmed up.
Induction
“I first started taking drugs just before my SSC exams. Two years before then, I had started smoking,” he said.
“It was 1997. I used to hang out in Bailey Road area because my girlfriend was a student at Viqarunnisa Noon School.”
While waiting to see his girlfriend, Karim came across a few “rich kids” who introduced him to Phensidyl.
Over the years, he became familiar with other kinds of drugs as well.
But his addiction became severe when his relationship with his girlfriend ended. “By 2003, I was so addicted that I could not continue my education.”
Being friends with rich drug addicts meant he did not have any problem with money.
“They lent me money when I needed. Sometimes, I would get the drugs for them and in exchange they would share some with me,” he explained.
His parents eventually started to notice that Karim was not doing well. “They learnt about my addiction towards the end of 2003; we had a huge fight.”
That was when things started going sour between him and his family.
Hitting the big-time
In the beginning of 2005, Karim met the infamous drug lord Aziz Mohammad.
“A girl named Titina took me to Aziz’s house in Gulshan in late 2004. It was he who brought me into the business of drugs.”
That is how he met Amin Huda, Aziz’s nephew, who was one of the ring leaders of the yaba trade in the capital at the time.
The new job brought an impressive amount of money, and Karim started going to high-profile parties and bars in the city’s posh areas. At one such bar, he met Himu.
“Himu was married into a rich family. Her husband used to live abroad, and Himu spent his money here.”
Karim fell in love with her.
Karim’s success in the drug business brought him control of the trade in Khilgaon and Rampura areas. Money was good as well.
In too deep
“Towards the end of 2006, I moved out of my parent’s home and rented a flat in Badda.”
His relationship with his parents already strained, moving out was the last straw; he was completely cut off from his family.
But he did not care much about that. “I was heavily addicted by then. I wouldn’t know when the sun rose or set. I had to take two bottles of Phensidyl, a yaba pill and Pethidine shots just to recharge myself every morning,” said Karim.
His waking hours were spent dealing drugs, taking drugs, and partying. “I completely lost control over my life.”
All that partying eventually started taking a toll on him. “In late 2007, I started having black outs; I would have no memory of a certain period of time.” Karim finally realised his life had gotten out of hand and he needed help. So he contacted his parents.
“But Himu became a problem. I left her, but she said she loved me too much and would not let me leave. I started beating her so she would leave me alone.”
Going straight
Later, his parents took him to a rehabilitation centre in Savar. “After spending four months there, I started to feel normal.” The rehab centre also arranged a job for him at an NGO.
“My job included frequent trips to Chouddagram in Comilla, where I used to stay in a hotel arranged by my employers. Around that time, I started taking drugs again. My employers found out and I was fired.”
Freshly unemployed again, Karim returned to Dhaka and started trying to reconnect with his old network.
In the meantime, he started working as a sales representative at an RMG factory, where he worked until 2011.
Back to square one
“The next big change in my life came when police arrested me in 2013. I was in jail for two months.”
After coming out of jail, Karim promptly went back to his drugs business. This time, he tried to build his network in Dhanmondi, with the area’s drug lord Arman.
“But as fate would have it, I was arrested within a week of coming out of jail. This time, the stint lasted for nearly a year.”
By 2013, heavy drug consumption had destroyed his health. “I frequently had black outs and often would not be able to recognise people. I used to have a nice physique before, but years of drug abuse have made my body frail. I also started having fits when I would have no control over my actions; I started cutting myself,” Karim said, showing some of the scars on his body.
These correspondents asked if he wondered how his life would be if he hadn’t gotten involved with drugs.
“I do. I desperately want to get my old life back. I tried, but I failed,” he sighed.
“I don’t want to see tears in my parents’ eyes, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to see them suffer because of me. I want a normal life, but I’m caught in a poisonous web,” Karim said, before walking away as his case hearing was about to start.
