It seems drug dealers never run out of options to dodge law enforcers.
Previously, they tried to carry yaba pills inside snake baskets, brinjals, gourds, jackfruits, books, laptops and wall clocks.
But this time, a group of alleged drug dealers have arranged an entire picnic to transport about 2.4 lakh yaba from Teknaf to Dhaka and Jashore and got busted on their way, Rab said.
Members of Rab-7 recovered the tablets from a bus carrying the picnickers and arrested six people in Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge area in Chattogram yesterday.
The arrestees are Atiar Rahman, 55, Masud Rana, 31, Md Bablu, 47, Iqbal Hossain, 37, Md Jewel, 39 and Aminur Rahman Sabuj, 23, said Mehedi Hasan, commander of Chandgaon Camp of Rab-7.
All of them are residents of different areas in Jashore, the Rab official added.
The six arranged a picnic in Cox's Bazar and invited some of their friends and relatives to join in with them.
According to the plan, they managed a bus, owned by Atiar, and started their journey from Jashore with some 40 passengers on board on Wednesday, Mehedi said.
On Thursday morning, all the group members boarded a St Martin's Island-bound ship, but the six decided to stay in Teknaf.
In the mean time, they collected the yaba pills from Teknaf and returned to Cox's Bazar town with the rest when they came back from St Martin's Island in the evening, he added.
The six had concealed the contraband pills inside the baggage of other passengers before their return trip on Friday night.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab-7 intercepted the bus around 6:30am, and recovered the pills after searching all the luggage.
During primary interrogation, the arrestees “admitted” that all the other passengers were their relatives and friends and they did not know anything about the illegal consignment, the Rab official said.
“The yaba tablets were supposed to be taken to Dhaka and Jashore for sale,” he said, adding that the bus was seized and the arrestees would be handed over to police.
A case was filed with Bakalia Police Station in this connection, he added.
