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Smugglers in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, have adopted a new technique to bring yaba pills into Bangladesh using specially designed wooden submersible carriers, capable of transporting around three million pills at a time, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said.
In separate operations at the Palongkhali and Balukhali Border Outposts on Monday night, members of BGB’s 64th Battalion seized 220,000 yaba pills, a foreign-made pistol, two magazines, 11 rounds of ammunition and smuggling equipment. Three people were arrested.
At a press conference at the BGB headquarters in Teknaf on Tuesday afternoon, 64th Battalion Commander Lt Col Md Zahirul Islam disclosed details of the operations. Captain Mahraf Zaman was also present.
According to BGB, a patrol team from Palongkhali Border Outpost spotted several suspicious people beside a machang house at Monir’s fish enclosure in Anjumanpara, Ukhiya, around 9:30pm on Monday. Two suspects were arrested while attempting to flee. A search of the area recovered the drugs, weapons and equipment. Another person was arrested in a separate operation by Balukhali Border Outpost the same night.
The seized equipment included a wooden submersible carrier, nine pulleys, around two kilometres of steel wire, a high-powered battery, an electric motor and a mobile phone, alongside the firearm and ammunition.
BGB said smugglers used the motor, steel wire and pulleys to pull the carrier underwater across the Naf River and along the Faiyassa Canal, bringing it around 1–1.5 kilometres inside Bangladesh. Special arrangements of wires and pulleys helped it navigate the canal’s winding route.
The force said increased border surveillance and the use of technology had prompted drug traffickers to develop new smuggling methods. On September 9, BGB seized 1.4 million yaba pills in Teknaf’s Hnila area while smugglers were pulling a submerged load by boat and rope.
This year, the 64th Battalion has seized around 16.63 million yaba pills and arrested 228 people in anti-drug operations in Ukhiya, according to BGB.
Lt Col Zahirul Islam said surveillance and operations along the border would continue to prevent drug smuggling, regardless of the methods traffickers adopted.