3 'yaba smugglers' detained in Cox's Bazar with pills, weapon, ammo

Three suspected yaba smugglers were detained by coastguards during an operation in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf upazila early today.

The detainees were identified as Md Ilyas, 30, Nur Mohammad, 61, and Abdul Shakkur, 40. All are residents of the Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhiya.

After a search of their boat, the coastguards recovered 30,000 yaba pills, a 9mm foreign pistol and four rounds of ammunition, Bangladesh Coast Guard said in a press release today.

The release was signed by Lt Commander Harun-or-Rashid, media officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard.

In the release, he said that a team of the coastguards, acting on a tip-off, conducted the operation around 2:30am near Tulatoli ghat at Teknaf.

When a suspicious engine-run boat was signalled to stop during the operation, the yaba smugglers opened fire, prompting Coast Guard personnel to retaliate with gunshots for self-defence, it said.

Shakkur was injured in the "fire-exchange" and the boat was seized after an hour-long chase, it added.

The release also mentioned that four others jumped into the sea and escaped.

The injured was sent to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital for treatment and legal proceedings are underway against the three detainees, it said.