Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday said the government would install scanning machines at all 16 landports to curb smuggling and infiltration of all sorts of illegal items into the country.
“The scanning machines at landports would help prevent smuggling,” he told newsmen after the 59th meeting on National Smuggling Prevention Committee held at his ministry conference room here.
The minister asked the law enforcement agencies to speed up their activities in preventing smuggling, adding, “All concerned organizations will have to work in a coordinated way to check smuggling . . . drives should be strengthened further and these should continue on a regular basis.” He said the law enforcement-agencies detained 5,443 people between January to March 2017, while the number was 5,039 in the same period in 2016. They conducted 1,99,251 operations and seized contraband goods worth Taka 2,007.41crore during the period.
Asaduzzaman said different agencies filed 6,488 cases making 6,922 persons as accused.
Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque, representatives of different ministries and law-enforcement agencies were present during the briefing.
Besides BGB, police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Coast Guard and Department of Narcotic Control (DNC) and other agencies recovered illegal firearms and other contraband items during their anti smuggling drives, the minister said.
He also said the law enforcement agencies recovered 505 fire arms during their operations from January to March this year while 344 arms were seized during the same period last year.
“We have taken some necessary measures to ensure fulltime intelligence surveillance at border areas to stop inflow of yaba tablets,” Asaduzzaman Khan said.
