9 held with 4.6 lakh yaba pills in Cox's Bazar

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a drive arrested nine individuals and seized 460,000 yaba pills from a fishing trawler in the Bakkhali River in Cox's Bazar.

A team of RAB-15 conducted the special drive on Tuesday night at the estuary of the Bakkhali River in the district town and recovered the contraband pills. The fishing trawler used in the smuggling was also confiscated. 

The detainees are Abbas Uddin, 48, Md Abu Taher, 42, Md Firoz, 38, Md Mostak Ahmad, 40, Md Nabi Hossain, 38, Md Shahab Uddin, 55, Md Selim, 68, Jafar Alam, 63, and Abul Kalam alias Kalu, 70. All are residents of various upazilas in Cox's Bazar district.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) A M Faruq of RAB-15 said that based on intelligence, they came to know that a group of drug traffickers was en route from Teknaf to Cox's Bazar, transporting a substantial quantity of Yaba concealed within a fishing trawler. 

Acting on this tip-off, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) also initiated surveillance operations.

Later, a targeted raid was carried out at the Bakkhali River estuary in Cox's Bazar town, where the trawler was intercepted. Upon thorough inspection, RAB personnel discovered 460,000 Yaba tablets ingeniously stashed inside oil drums aboard the vessel. 

The trawler was confiscated, and nine suspects were apprehended in connection with the smuggling attempt.

ASP Faruq further said that during primary interrogation, the detainees revealed that the owner of the seized trawler and the ringleader behind the Yaba shipment is Md. Borhan Uddin, a resident of Maheshkhali, is currently on the run. 

The arrestees admitted they have long been trafficking narcotics using various cunning methods and routes. Legal action is being taken against them, he added.