CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh Navy seized 90,000 illicit yaba tablets worth Tk4.55 crore and a motorboat carrying them from the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port.
Commander Shamim Mohammad Khan told the Customs Today that while patrolling, navy’s Special Warfare Diving and Salvage team chased the motorboat around 1am sensing its suspicious movement.
“Sensing the presence of navy personnel, the peddlers jumped into the water and swam to the shore,” he said.
The seized tablets and the boat were handed over to the Chittagong Customs House.
With the latest seizure yesterday, navy and coastguard officials have seized around 11 lakh yaba tablets this year from the Karnaphuli estuary, said sources in the two law enforcement units.
The smugglers now prefer the Kanrnaphuli estuary over the land route of Teknaf. Mostly they use fishermen and fishing trawlers to carry the contraband items, said a Navy official.
The navy’s anti-smuggling cell said a large number of fishing trawlers operate on the outer anchorage, therefore, it was hard to trace which vessel contained yaba.
Smugglers are bringing the drug items into the country from Myanmar through the water routes on fishing trawlers.
Three teams are working behind the process, said the sources.
A syndicate from Myanmar hands over the tablets to the second syndicate near Saint Martin Island in Bangladesh who are mainly fishermen of the bay. They take the items to the third party which are the locals near the Karnaphuli River bank, they finally hand over the tablets to the yaba traders in the locality.
Due to watchful vigilance of the law enforcement agencies over the land routes, the smugglers choose the water way of Karanaphuli River estuary and the Bay of Bengal, said Bangladesh Coast Guard (East Zone) Staff Officer Lt Commander Masudul Islam.
The official also said the smugglers used the sea route as it was cheaper and safer.
Bangladesh Coast Guard (East) Zonal Commander Captain Shahidul Islam said the arrested are only the carriers who do not even know who the main smugglers are.
He said the smugglers easily convince the fishermen to carry yaba in exchange of money. They term it as a medicine to them.
Smugglers bring the items from 37 yaba manufacturing factories in Mongdue city of Myanmar, Chowdhury Imrul Hasan of Departmen of Narcotics Control Chittagong Metro Region police.
Jane Alam, president of White Fishing Trawler Owners Association, told the Customs Today that some fishermen, in absence of owners, carry the items through deep sea.
“We would consult with the association members to check the trend,” he said
