Two Rohingyas, including a woman, were detained with 26kg of cannabis during a raid on a passenger bus in the Link Road area of Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila, according to the Special Response Battalion-15.
The detainees were identified as Md Ayaz, 25, son of Md Ebaidullah of Kutupalong Rohingya Camp No 2 in Ukhiya, and Hasina Begum, 55, wife of late Shamsul Alam of the Kutupalong Registered Camp.
SRB-15 Cox’s Bazar Battalion Assistant Director for Law and Media and Assistant Superintendent of Police A M Faruk disclosed the information in a press release issued on Saturday afternoon.
Faruk said SRB received information around midnight on Friday that a large consignment of drugs was being smuggled on a passenger bus travelling from Cumilla to Cox’s Bazar.
Acting on the information, an SRB-15 team set up a temporary checkpoint in the Link Road area under Jhilongja union of Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila and intensified vehicle searches.
At around 3am, officers stopped a suspicious bus operated by Saudia Paribahan Service and searched it. According to SRB-15, officers became suspicious of Ayaz and Hasina, who were sitting next to each other on the bus.
A search of their travel bag allegedly found 26kg of cannabis concealed inside using a special method. Faruk said the two passengers were detained after the drugs were recovered.
Preliminary information suggested that they were carrying the consignment to Cox’s Bazar, he added.
A case was filed against the two detainees with Cox’s Bazar Sadar Police Station under the Narcotics Control Act, the SRB-15 official said.
