Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized 21 kg of crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth or ice) from Ukhiya upazila of  Cox’s Bazar early Wednesday. A team of BGB 34 battalion arrested three people with the drug worth Tk 100 crore from Balukhali cyclone shelter area of the upazila, said  Lt Col Saiful Islam Chowdhury, chief of the battalion. This is the biggest ever consignment of crystal meth seized in the country, according to a press release sent by the force. Also Read: Myanmar national among 3 held with Crystal meth, Yaba pills in Teknaf The arrestees are Bujuche Mia, 51, Md Ismail, 23, and Syedul Bashar, 40. Tipped off that a drug consignment from Myanmar was being smuggled into Bangladesh, the BGB team conducted the drive. The drugs will be destroyed later, Saiful Islam said. Legal action will be taken in this regard, he added.  

Regulators rushed Friday to seize the assets of one of Silicon Valley's top banks, marking the largest failure of a U.S. financial institution since the height of the financial crisis almost 15 years ago. Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s 16th-largest bank, failed after depositors hurried to withdraw money this week amid anxiety over the bank’s health. It was the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history after the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008. The bank served mostly technology workers and venture capital-backed companies, including some of the industry's best-known brands. “This is an extinction-level event for startups,” said Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, a startup incubator that launched Airbnb, DoorDash and Dropbox and has referred hundreds of entrepreneurs to the bank. Also Read: 8 dead in shooting at rail yard serving Silicon Valley “I literally have been hearing from hundreds of our founders asking for help on how they can get through this. They are asking, ‘Do I have to furlough my workers?’” There appeared to be little chance of the chaos spreading in the broader banking sector, as it did in the months leading up to the Great Recession. The biggest banks — those most likely to cause an economic meltdown — have healthy balance sheets and plenty of capital. Nearly half of the U.S. technology and health care companies that went public last year after getting early funding from venture capital firms were Silicon Valley Bank customers, according to the bank’s website. The bank also boasted of its connections to leading tech companies such as Shopify, ZipRecruiter and one of the top venture capital firms, Andreesson Horowitz. Tan estimated that nearly one-third of Y Combinator’s startups will not be able to make payroll at some point in the next month if they cannot access their money. Internet TV provider Roku was among casualties of the bank collapse. It said in a regulatory filing Friday that about 26% of its cash — $487 million — was deposited at Silicon Valley Bank. Roku said its deposits with SVB were largely uninsured and it didn’t know “to what extent” it would be able to recover them. As part of the seizure, California bank regulators and the FDIC transferred the bank's assets to a newly created institution — the Deposit Insurance Bank of Santa Clara. The new bank will start paying out insured deposits on Monday. Then the FDIC and California regulators plan to sell off the rest of the assets to make other depositors whole. There was unease in the banking sector all week, with shares tumbling by double digits. Then news of Silicon Valley Bank's distress pushed shares of almost all financial institutions even lower Friday. The failure arrived with incredible speed. Some industry analysts suggested Friday that the bank was still a good company and a wise investment. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley Bank executives were trying to raise capital and find additional investors. However, trading in the bank’s shares was halted before stock market's opening bell due to extreme volatility. Shortly before noon, the FDIC moved to shutter the bank. Notably, the agency did not wait until the close of business, which is the typical approach. The FDIC could not immediately find a buyer for the bank's assets, signaling how fast depositors cashed out. The White House said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was “watching closely.” The administration sought to reassure the public that the banking system is much healthier than during the Great Recession. “Our banking system is in a fundamentally different place than it was, you know, a decade ago,” said Cecilia Rouse, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The reforms that were put in place back then really provide the kind of resilience that we’d like to see.” In 2007, the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression rippled across the globe after mortgage-backed securities tied to ill-advised housing loans collapsed in value. The panic on Wall Street led to the demise of Lehman Brothers, a firm founded in 1847. Because major banks had extensive exposure to one another, the crisis led to a cascading breakdown in the global financial system, putting millions out of work. At the time of its failure, Silicon Valley Bank, which is based in Santa Clara, California, had $209 billion in total assets, the FDIC said. It was unclear how many of its deposits were above the $250,000 insurance limit, but previous regulatory reports showed that lots of accounts exceeded that amount. The bank announced plans Thursday to raise up to $1.75 billion in order to strengthen its capital position. That sent investors scurrying and shares plunged 60%. They tumbled lower still Friday before the opening of the Nasdaq, where the bank's shares were traded. As its name implied, Silicon Valley Bank was a major financial conduit between the technology sector, startups and tech workers. It was seen as good business sense to develop a relationship with the bank if a startup founder wanted to find new investors or go public. Conceived in 1983 by co-founders Bill Biggerstaff and Robert Medearis during a poker game, the bank leveraged its Silicon Valley roots to become a financial cornerstone in the tech industry. Bill Tyler, the CEO of TWG Supply in Grapevine, Texas, said he first realized something was wrong when his employees texted him at 6:30 a.m. Friday to complain that they did not receive their paychecks. TWG, which has just 18 employees, had already sent the money for the checks to a payroll services provider that used Silicon Valley Bank. Tyler was scrambling to figure out how to pay his workers. "We’re waiting on roughly $27,000," he said. "It’s already not a timely payment. It’s already an uncomfortable position. I don’t want to ask any employees, to say, ‘Hey, can you wait until mid-next week to get paid?’” Silicon Valley Bank's ties to the tech sector added to its troubles. Technology stocks have been hit hard in the past 18 months after a growth surge during the pandemic, and layoffs have spread throughout the industry. Venture capital funding has also been declining. At the same time, the bank was hit hard by the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation and an aggressive series of interest rate hikes to cool the economy. As the Fed raises its benchmark interest rate, the value of generally stable bonds starts to fall. That is not typically a problem, but when depositors grow anxious and begin withdrawing their money, banks sometimes have to sell those bonds before they mature to cover the exodus. That is exactly what happened to Silicon Valley Bank, which had to sell $21 billion in highly liquid assets to cover the sudden withdrawals. It took a $1.8 billion loss on that sale. Ashley Tyrner, CEO of FarmboxRx, said she had spoken to several friends whose businesses are backed by venture capital. She described them as being “beside themselves” over the bank's failure. Tyrner's chief operating officer tried to withdraw her company's funds on Thursday but failed to do so in time. “One friend said they couldn't make payroll today and cried when they had to inform 200 employees because of this issue,” Tyrner said.

Customs preventive team of Dhaka Customs House (DCH) seized 120 gold bars worth Tk 13.50 crore from inside a passenger carrying bus  owned by US Bangla Airlines at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Thursday.    Sources at the HSIA said the DCH had a secret information that a smuggler syndicate would bring a large gold consignment in Dhaka from Dubai by a flight of US Bangla Airlines and then the consignment will be smuggled out through passenger carrying vehicle of the airlines.  When a vehicle  reached near Gate-21 carrying passengers from the aircraft, customs officials started questioning driver after passengers got down from the vehicle, said Shafiqur Rahman, an officer of the DCH.   At one stage, Md Harunor Rashid, 40, the driver of the ram bus, admitted that gold consignment had been kept hidden inside the vehicle. Then the customs preventive team recovered four packets containing the gold bars, kept hidden inside the bus, the Customs official said.  After searching the four packets at the customs hall, they found 120 gold bars weighing around 14.132 kgs, he added.   A case was filed with airport police station.       

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has said they seized smuggled goods, arms and drugs worth over Tk1,565 crore in various drives across the country last year. In 2021, smuggled goods and drugs worth Tk 1073 crore were seized by BGB. The smuggled goods seized last year included 1,27,78,100 Yaba pills, 77.690kg crystal meth, 316,157 bottles of phensidyl, 182,932 bottles of foreign liquor, 4,064 litres of local wine, 37,126 beer cans, 28,672kg cannabis, 72.159kg heroin, 4,98,754 stimulating injections, 6,55,940 Senegra tablets, 76,561 Eskuf syrups, 13.425kg Opium (afim), 13,562 bottles of Cofidil, 84,55,562 different types of medicines and 28,10,063 other drugs, Shariful Islam, public relations officer of the BGB headquarters, said Tuesday. Also Read: Goods worth Tk107 crore seized in December: BGB Also, 194.993kg gold, 279.162kg silver, 31 touchstone statues, 2,155,094 cosmetics, 1,57,309 sarees, 59,939 3pcs/shirts pcs, 21,068 readymade garments, 30,695 cubic feet of timber, 73,176kg tea leaves, 6,21,013kg coal, 35,223 cubic feet stone, 1,25,750 imitation ornaments, 1,699kg current net, 152,5kg turtle bone, 73 trucks/covered van, 44 private cars/microbuses, 106 pickup trucks, 340 CNG/battery run auto-rickshaws and 824 motorcycles were seized. Forty-six pistols, nine rifles, five revolvers, 79 different types of guns, 25 magazines, 24 mortar shells, 5,345 rounds of bullets, 1 rocket bomb, 20 cocktails, 51 empty shells and 999.60kg of explosive-like materials were among the seized arms and ammunition. Besides, legal actions were taken against 2,953 people smugglers during this period. Some 2,085 Bangladeshis and 117 Indian nationals were arrested for crossing the border illegally, Shariful said.      

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh seized 17 gold bars weighing  1.98kg from Pachvulot border of Jashore's Sharsha upazila on Saturday. Lt Col Tanveer Ahmed, commanding officer of BGB-21 battalion, said tipped off that gold was being smuggled to India, a team of BGB conducted a drive in Bottola area at noon. Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, two smugglers riding on a motorcycle fled the scene leaving behind two bags and the BGB team recovered the gold bars worth Tk 1.5 crore from the bags, said Tanveer Ahmed. Also Read: Gold worth over Tk 8.5cr seized in Chuadanga, Jhenaidah; one detained He said they are trying to arrest the two smugglers. A case has been filed with Sharsha police in this regard, added the commanding officer.  

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) seized banned fishing nets worth around Tk 9 crore from the Raghunathpur area of Chandpur Sadar Upazila on Monday morning. Acting on a tip-off, a special operation was conducted by BCG Station Chandpur led by Station Commander Lt. B M Tanjimul Islam in the area around 9:30am on Monday, said Lt. Mashhad Uddin Nahian, a media officer at the BCG Dhaka Zone. During the raid, the law enforcers seized around 2.5 million meters of new current nets from three Easy-bikes worth Tk 9,03,00,000 in the area. Read: Coast Guard seizes banned fishing nets worth over Tk 115 cr The seized nets were later burnt in the presence of Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer and Station Commander Chandpur on the Coast Guard office premises, the media officer added. 

The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) has seized a Rolls-Royce car worth Tk27 crore from a house in Dhaka's Baridhara for violating customs rule. Imported by Z&Z Intimates, the car was hidden in the garage of the residence of the company's managing director, the CIID said Wednesday. The importer violated the provisions of the Customs Act by illegally hiding the vehicle in a private garage without paying import duties, it added.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized smuggled goods, arms, ammunition and drugs worth Tk 131.58 crore across the country in June. The seized drugs include 11,78,286 Yaba pills, 5.35 Kg crystal meth, 29,876 bottles of phensedyl, 11,667 bottles of foreign liquor, 127 liters of local liquor, 2,482 cans of beer, 2,949 kg cannabis, 8.4 gm heroin, 36,573 injections, 5,400 Eskuf syrups, 521 bottles of MkDil/Cofidil, 8,221 Anegra/Senegra tablets, 92,406 different types of medicines and 93,111 tablets, said a BGB media release on Sunday. Other smuggled items include 18.89 kg gold, 5 kg silver, 86,423 cosmetic items, 2,552 imitation jewelries, 10,145 sharees, 9,379 three-piece/shirt-piece/bed-sheet/blankets, 5,249 readymade garments, 1,210 cft timber, 4,909 kg of tea leaves, 31,600 kg of coal, 5 touch stone made statues, 770 bottles of pesticides, 3 trucks/covered vans, 5 private cars/microbuses, 3 pickup vans, 35 CNG/battery autorickshaws. Also read: BGB-BSF border conference underway in Jashore Seized arms include seven pistols, one revolver, five guns, two guns, 14 rounds of ammunition, two magazines and five cocktails. Meanwhile, BGB arrested 228 smugglers , 268 Bangladeshi nationals and 15 Indian nationals who tried to cross border illegally. Also read: BGB seizes smuggled goods worth Tk 132 crore in May

A team of Rapid Action Battalion and National Consumer Rights Protection (NCRP) in a drive seized 12,100 litres of edible oil from two warehouses at Bandartila Saltgola of Chattogram port city on Sunday. A team of Rab and NCRP conducted a drive at Ishanmistrir Bazar in Saltgola and seized edible oil from a number of warehouses in the area, said Didar Hossain, assistant director of Chattogram, NCRP. READ: Crackdown on hoarding: 51,956 litres of soybean oil seized in 3 districts Later, they also slapped a fine of Tk 5 lakh on the owners of the two warehouses including Ilias Hossain for hoarding the oil illegally. Earlier, the NCRP team seized 4500 litres of edible oil from different warehouses in Agrabad and Karnaphuli bazars on Friday and Saturday.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized 1.80 lakh Yaba pills worth Tk 5.40 crore from the Naf River along Kharangkhali area  in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district on Wednesday. Tipped off, a team of BGB-2 conducted a drive in the area and challenged a boat coming from Myanmar around 12:15 am. READ: 90,000 yaba pills recovered in Cox’s Bazar Being challenged, the smugglers opened fire on BGB members, forcing the border guards to fire back in self –defence. Later, they seized the Yaba pills from two sacks. READ: BGB seizes Yaba worth Tk 6 crore from Cox’s Bazar No one was arrested as the smugglers managed to flee the scene.