Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized 2,94,000 Yaba tablets and arrested two alleged drug traffickers in separate anti-smuggling drives in Cox’s Bazar, officials said.
The border force also seized a tourist vehicle and a boat allegedly used to transport Yaba, while several suspected smugglers managed to flee.
In Ukhiya’s Palongkhali area, a BGB patrol team arrested Md Imran, 34, at around 2:20am on Friday as he was allegedly entering Bangladesh from Myanmar disguised as a fisherman.
The patrol team recovered 50,000 Yaba tablets from a fish basket he was carrying, according to BGB.
Earlier, at around 10:40pm on Thursday, BGB members recovered another 2 lakh yaba tablets from two packages abandoned near Kharangkhalia.
Two people allegedly carrying the packages fled after crossing into Bangladesh from Myanmar.
In a separate operation at around 5:30pm Thursday, BGB recovered 40,000 Yaba tablets from a boat in East Karengaghona.
The boat was allegedly being used to smuggle drugs from Myanmar. The suspected smuggler reportedly escaped by swimming towards Myanmar.
Meanwhile, BGB personnel, assisted by their narcotics detection dog Henry, recovered 4,000 Yaba tablets concealed near the steering wheel of a tourist vehicle at Shilkhali checkpoint.
The vehicle’s driver, Md Omar Faruk, 19, was arrested and the vehicle was seized.
Lt Col Md Zahirul Islam, commander of the Ukhiya Battalion, said intelligence surveillance and anti-smuggling operations along the border had been stepped up.
