A Correspondent :
Smuggling of contraband yaba tablets, is rampant through Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar area.
The port city and adjoining Cox’s Bazar is being used for smuggling of illegal drugs including Yaba. At least 20 to 25 syndicates are engaged in smuggling of yaba in Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar area who supply it to Dhaka and other areas in the country.
The law enforcing agencies including elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police and Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB), Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) are taking steps to stop smuggling of yaba and other drugs.
The law enforcers are continuing the special raids to nab smugglers. Sources said, in separate raids, BCG recovered 18,630 pieces of yaba tablets from offshore island Shah Parir Dwip area. The team also arrested yaba smuggler Mohammad Younus (25), son of RASHID Ahamod . Commander of BGB-2 in Teknaf Lt Colonel Abu Jor Al Jahid said, a team of BGB raided offshore island Shah Parir Dwip area in Cox’s Bazar on Saturday night and recovered the yaba from there.
He said, the recovered yaba was handed over to department of narcotics for further action. In another raid, BCG recovered yaba tablets from a truck in Cox’s Bazar Sadar area. Commander of BGB-34 in Cox’s Bazar Lt Colonel Imran Ullah said, acting on secret information, a team of BCG raided a truck and recovered huge yaba tablets from there. On the other hand, Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) conducted special raids in the city area on Saturday night to nab the yaba smugglers. Police recovered 5,486 pieces of yaba from different spots in the city in separate raids.
Police filed 10 cases in this connection.
It may be mentioned that the teams of police, RAB and BCG recovered huge yaba tablets in recent raids from Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. On September 10 , BCG recovered four lakh pieces of yaba tablets worth around Tk 19 crore from adjoining area of Sattar Majhir Ghat in Anwara. Zonal Commander of BCG Eastern Zone M Nuruzzaman Sheikh said, acting on a tip off, a team of BCG raided a boat loaded with yaba and recovered four lakh piece tablets worth around Tk 19 crore.”
Besides, on August 19, elite force RAB and Police recovered 80,000 pieces of yaba tablets in separate raids from different areas in Chittagong. A team of Pahartoli thana police raided Eidgaon area under Pahartoli in the port city and recovered 50,000 pieces of yaba tablets from a house. Police also arrested three yaba smugglers named Afsa Raihan (23), Sumi Begum (30) and Jahanara Begum (40) from the spots. On the other hand, in separate raid on August 19 last conducted by RAB-7 at Karnaphuli thana area a total of 30,000 pieces of yaba tablets were recovered. The RAB team also arrested one trader from the spot. Director of RAB-7, Chandan Devnath said, a team of RAB raided the New Bridge area under Karnaphuli thana and recovered 30,000 pieces of Yaba from there.
During the month of Ramadan, the law enforcing agencies have recovered huge yaba tablets and arrested several smugglers and retail traders from different spots of Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. Sources said, despite special measures of the authorities, smuggling of yaba is rampant through the port city and sea city Cox’s Bazar. There are also several syndicates in the port city to smuggle drugs, wine and medicine particularly yaba etc. They are active in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong and Bandarban hill district. The wine, contraband drugs, sex stimulating tablet yaba etc are smuggled from Mayanmar, India and Thailand.
