Members of the Coast Guard in separate drives arrested 43 people including criminals and robbers along with arms, ammunition in the past five months from Bhola.

During the drives, a huge amount of firearms, bullets, hand bombs, deer venison, foreign cigarettes were seized, said Zonal Commander Captain Imam Hasan Azad of Coast Guard South Zone while speaking at a press briefing held in Bhola on Sunday.

Besides, illegal nets, jatka fish, hilsa, shrimp fry, sea fish, trawler, boat, dredger and bulkhead worth over Tk 4,494 crore were seized during the drives.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard members also seized 18.840 kgs of hemp, five hemp trees, 3,197 pieces of Yaba, 5,900 kgs of shark, 845 kgs of stingrays of the Bay of Bengal, locally known as Shaplapata, 30,080 kgs of illegal polythene, 10,250 litre of palm oil, 190 kgs of deer venison, one deer antler, 5,889 fireworks and 19,600 cigarettes.

Besides, the Coast Guard also seized 65 crore metre of illegal nets, 1,500 nets, 5,600 China made nets, 1.77 lakh kgs of jatka, 20,000 kgs of hilsa, 31,000 kgs of sea fish, 17,000 kgs of pungas fish fry, 6.72 crore shrimp fry, 133 illegal boats, worth Tk 134 crore in the past seven months.

It also seized 70 dredger machines, 58 bulkheads worth Tk 109.40 crore in the past six months.

During the search and rescue operation, the Coast Guard members also rescued 520 people alive and eight bodies.