1.4 lakh Yaba tablets seized, two held in Ukhiya

The detainees were identified as Md Nur Islam, 25, and Md Hares, 20.

According to Lt Col Md Zahirul Islam, commanding officer of Ukhiya Battalion (64 BGB), a special patrol team of Palonkhali Border Outpost spotted two men entering Bangladesh from the Myanmar side carrying bags in the Babul’s enclosure area, north of Anjumanpara water point.

When the BGB patrol team challenged them, the two men tried to flee but were chased and detained by the BGB members, he said.

Later, the paramilitary force members recovered the Yaba tablets, wrapped in khaki-coloured packets and packed in 14 blue-coloured cartons kept inside the polythene bags, from their possession.

During preliminary interrogation, the detainees admitted that they collected the Yaba pills from the Myanmar border and were carrying the consignment for sale at a higher price, the BGB commander said.

He said intelligence surveillance and operations have been intensified to identify the source of the Yaba consignment, suppliers and others involved in the smuggling network and bring them under the law, reports UNB.

BGB operations and surveillance to prevent drug and smuggling activities along the border will continue, Zahirul added.