Cox’s Bazar, Sept 02 (V7N) – Police have recovered 2 lakh yaba tablets in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar, but no one was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Police said suspected drug traffickers fled the scene after sensing the presence of law enforcement officers, abandoning the consignment.
The seizure was made at around 6:35 am on Tuesday from the western side of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf regional highway, in front of the Moragachtala Rohingya Market in Ward No. 2 of Palongkhali Union.
According to Ukhiya police, a team led by Officer-in-Charge (OC) Atikur Rahman was conducting an anti-drug operation in the area when the officers spotted a white plastic sack lying beside the road.
The officers searched the sack and recovered 2 lakh yaba tablets packed in 20 cards.
Police said the suspected traffickers abandoned the sack and fled after noticing the presence of the law enforcement team. The tablets were subsequently seized.
OC Atikur Rahman said police were working to identify and arrest those involved in the consignment.
Legal action will be taken under the Narcotics Control Act, he said.
In a separate operation on Monday night, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police recovered another 1 lakh yaba tablets in two raids in Ukhiya near the Balukhali border area. No one was arrested in connection with the seizures.
Of the 1 lakh tablets, 90,000 were found concealed inside a box specially hidden beneath a boat. A button mobile phone was also recovered from the boat.
According to the Ukhiya Battalion (64 BGB), a special patrol team from the Balukhali Border Outpost (BOP) was conducting a routine patrol at around 8:00 pm on Monday when its members spotted a person entering Bangladesh from Myanmar by boat through the Faisa Khal area, south of the Balukhali BSP post.
When the patrol team challenged the individual, he jumped from the boat and swam back towards Myanmar.
A subsequent search of the boat led to the recovery of 90,000 yaba tablets concealed in a box beneath the vessel. A button mobile phone was also recovered from the same location.
Later, at around 9:00 pm, a joint team of BGB personnel from the Balukhali BOP and Ukhiya police conducted another operation in the Narikel Bagan area based on intelligence received by Ukhiya police.
The team recovered another 10,000 yaba tablets hidden beneath a wetland. No one was arrested in that operation either.
Ukhiya Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Md Zahirul Islam said surveillance along the border had been intensified to prevent drug smuggling and illegal entry.
He said coordinated operations with other law enforcement agencies would continue to identify those involved in drug trafficking and bring them to justice.
END/MSI/SMA/
