Cox’s Bazar, Aug 10 (V7N) — Coast Guard and police have seized foreign cigarettes worth Tk 23.85 lakh allegedly smuggled into Ukhiya from Myanmar without paying customs duties.
No one was arrested as the suspected smugglers fled the scene, abandoning the vehicle allegedly used to transport the cigarettes.
The joint operation was conducted at around 6am on Sunday near the Palongkhali border road in Ukhiya upazila by the Coast Guard Station Teknaf and Ukhiya Police Station.
Coast Guard media officer Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon said the operation was launched following a tip-off about a suspected consignment of smuggled cigarettes.
When a suspicious CNG-powered auto-rickshaw was signalled to stop, the suspected smugglers allegedly abandoned the vehicle and fled after noticing the presence of Coast Guard personnel.
A subsequent search of the vehicle led to the seizure of approximately 119,000 sticks of Oris-brand cigarettes and 40,000 sticks of Patron-brand cigarettes, with an estimated combined value of Tk 23.85 lakh, according to the Coast Guard.
The CNG-powered auto-rickshaw allegedly used to transport the cigarettes was also seized.
Lieutenant Commander Sujon said the suspects managed to escape before they could be detained. He added that legal procedures concerning the seized cigarettes and the vehicle were underway.
The Coast Guard said its operations to prevent cross-border smuggling would continue.
END/MSI/SMA/
