The smuggling of Phensedyl through various border points appears to be rising with alleged relocation and reopening of some factories in India.

The flow of this drug into Bangladesh had declined after the Indian health ministry banned it on March 11, 2016. The authorities reportedly had closed down factories in the bordering districts of India though production of the cough syrup actually never stopped.

In recent years, narco syndicates have started manufacturing this contraband in factories relocated deep into the Indian state of Bihar from bordering areas, according to intelligence sources.

Law enforcement officials in Bangladesh say they have come to know about some Phensedyl factories that resumed production. Their knowledge of possible locations of the factories have been communicated to Indian counterparts.

According to two narcotics dealers in Chapainawabganj, a district bordering Murshidabad and Maldah in West Bengal, the price of 100 bottles of Phensedyl was Tk 20,000 to Tk 24,000 before the shutdown of factories in Indian border areas in 2016.