Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two alleged drug dealers, including a teenaged girl, and recovered nearly 2000 yaba pills that they had swallowed to avoid detection by law enforcers, from the Sher-e-Banglanagar area of the capital on Sunday night. The arrestees were identified as Md Russel (26) and his accomplice Sanjida Akhtar (18) . 2 people killed in separate road accidents in Chattogram An operational team of Rab-2 battalion headquarters obtained information on Sunday night at around 10:35 pm that two drug dealers were coming to Dhaka with a consignment of drugs. Based on the information, the operational team of the elite force set up a check post on the street in front of Pangu Hospital under Sherebangla Nagar police station. While they were implementing a search of a passenger bus, two passengers towards the back of the bus started acting very suspiciously and were detained for questioning. During interrogation, Russel admitted that he was carrying yaba in his stomach. BGB arrests man with 70,000 Yaba pills in Cox’s Bazar Russell was then taken to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where further tests including an X-ray revealed the presence of a palm-shaped polythene-wrapped yaba packets in the stomach of arrested Russel. Once the existence of yaba was confirmed, Russel was officially shown-arrested and medics removed 38 of the packets described above from his stomach through the anus. Each of these potla contained 50 yaba, giving a total of 1900 yaba obtained from Russel. Meanwhile Sanjida was suspected of wearing fake hair extensions when she was searched by two female members of RAB. Eventually a single packet of 50 pills was found and extracted from her hair. 2.60 lakh yaba pills, 1.05 kg crystal meth seized in Cox’s Bazar During preliminary interrogation, it was also learned that the arrested Russel collected yaba from the Cox's Bazar frontier. He also revealed that he used to take small plastic wrapped yaba pills inside his stomach through drinking juice and food items to help swallow it down.

Narayanganj DB police have arrested a Sramik League leader with 700 pieces of yaba pills at Sonargaon in the district. Police arrested Sonargaon Union Sramik League General Secretary Ashik Sarkar with Yaba on Wednesday night, according to Narayanganj DB police SI Md. Ruhul Amin. SI Md. Ruhul Amin said Ashik was arrested during an anti drug operation in the area. Narayanganj-4: This may be my last election, says Shamim Osman Preparations are underway to file a case against Ashik under the Narcotics Control Act, he said. The arrestee was identified as Ashik Sarkar, son of Rup Miya Sarkar from Kathalipara village of Sadipur union under Narayanganj. 4 family members burnt in gas explosion in Narayanganj However, Sadipur Union Member Al Amin said police took his signature as witness of seizing 1400 pieces of Yaba and four rounds of bullets.  But later the police mentioned about only 700 pieces of Yaba, said UP member Al Amin. When contacted, Sonargaon area in charge of DB police Al Mamun said, “I don’t know anything about this. But I will inform you if I find any information about this.” Woman, son burnt in Narayanganj fire Later, he couldn’t be reached by phone.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) claimed to have detained a Myanmar national with 50,000 Yaba pills from Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar district. The detainee has been identified as Md Rafique, 32. Body recovered from Marine Drive road in Cox's Bazar Acting on a tip-off that a big consignment of Yaba is being smuggled through the area, a team of BGB-2 conducted a drive in the area and found four people crossing the zero line of the border area around 12:15 am, said commanding officer of BGB-2, Lt Col Mohiuddin. Railway Minister to inspect Dohazari-Cox's Bazar line before inauguration Being challenged, three of the “smugglers” managed to flee the scene. BGB managed to arrest one of them with the Yaba pills. 2 friends drown in Cox's Bazar while taking bath

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) say they have recovered 28,000 yaba pills, 1 kg heroin, and 77 bottles of Phensedyl from the Chapainawabganj border area. The drugs were seized during raids at Chakpara, Telkupi and Azmatpur border areas under Shibganj upazila, according to a press release sent by 59 BGB Battalion this morning. Acting on a tip-off, a BGB patrol team led by Lt Col Golam Kibria, commander of 59 BGB battalion, raided the border areas last night. At that time, the yaba pills, heroin, and Phensedyl were recovered while no one was around, said the release. According to the press release, special patrols of BGB are being conducted in the border areas to implement a zero-tolerance policy against drugs announced by the prime minister and the BGB director general.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said they detained a Rohingya man with one lakh yaba pills from the Ukhiya border area on Thursday. The detainee was identified as Sharif Hossain, 21, son of Bashir Ahmed of Kutupalong Rohingya camp of Ukhiya upazila. Tipped off, a team of BGB conducted a raid at Tulatuli Joliler Goda of Rajapalong union, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Saiful Islam Chowdhury, commanding officer of 34th BGB Battalion, said. Hot on the trail of potential "drug smugglers," BGB detained Sharif with one lakh contraband yaba pills as was trying to smuggle the cheap synthetic drug from Myanmar into Bangladesh. The detainee and the yaba pills were handed over to Ukiya Police Station, Saiful said. Read more: Yaba smuggling: 8 Rohingyas get life term jail in Cox’s Bazar  

Members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) on Saturday detained a Saudi Arabia resident with 15,400 yaba pills at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The detainee has been identified as Md Rubel Hossain, originally from Chandpur district. Additional SP of Airport Armed Police (AAP) Mohammad Ziaul Haque said they detained Rubel on suspicion in front of Gate No. 1 of the departure terminal this afternoon. During preliminary interrogation, Masud revealed that he had kept 15,400 Yaba pills in his luggage which were recovered later, he added. Legal action will be taken against him, said the ASP. Read more: 2 held with Yaba worth over Tk 1 cr in Dhaka  

Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) on Tuesday detained a suspected drug peddler and seized 84,000 yaba pills from Shahpori island and Keruntoli areas in Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar. However, the identity of the detainee was not disclosed by the Coast Guard officials. Tipped-off, BCG Station at Teknaf conducted a special drive in Shahpori island area around 1:30am and detained the man along with 70,000 yaba pills, said a media release signed by Lt Commander Khandaker Munif Taqi, media officer of the BCG. Besides, another BCG team found a man roaming in  Kuruntoli area around 3am. Coast Guard members signaled the man to stop as his movements seemed suspicious. Sensing the presence of the Coast Guard men, the man dropped a bag and fled, it added. Later, 14,000 yaba pills were seized from the bag. The detainee and the seized yaba pills were handed over to Teknaf Model Police Station for further legal action, said the release.

Police arrested two drug peddlers with 35,000 pieces of Yaba worth Tk 1.05 crore from Aftabnagar in the capital on Tuesday.The arrestees were identified as Jomirul Islam, 45, of Kulia village in Jamalpur district and Belaluddin Mridha, 55, of Basudebpur village in Natore.Acting on a tip-off,  a team of DMP's Badda Thana police conducted drives in the capital's Aftabnagar area and first arrested Jomirul with 2,000 pieces of yaba, said a media statement. Read: 3 held with 13000 yaba pills in cityLater, based on the information given by Jomirul the law enforcers conducted a drive again in Aftabnagaar's Eastern Housing area and arrested Belal with 33,000 pieces of yaba, added the release.A case was filed at Badda police station against the accused, it said.

A Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader of Patiya municipality in the district has been expelled from the organization following his arrest by police with Yaba pills early Wednesday. The BCL leader has been identified as Atiqul Rahman alias Gazi Alvi, joint convener of Patiya municipality unit BCL. Sources said Alavi along with his aide identified as Ashraful Islam alias Shawon was arrested with 1,400 Yaba pills from the Jungle union of Patiya upazila in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Reacting to the incident, the organizing committee of the Chattogram south district BCL fired Alvi from the organization, said a press release signed by its President SM Borhan Uddin and General Secretary Md Abu Taher on Wednesday. Read: BCL leader hacked to death in Cox's Bazar Besides, the leaders jointly recommended to the central body to expel him permanently.  Ahsan Habib, sub-inspector of Patiya Police Station, said on information they conducted a drive in the area and detained them on suspicion.  Later, a total of 1,400 pieces of Yaba pills were recovered from the duo's possession.  A case under the Narcotics Control Act was filed accusing Alvi and Shawon in this connection, the police officer added.  

The number of yaba pills ( a contraband drug) smuggled into Bangladesh from neighbouring Myanmar has surged by two and a half times under the current military regime compared to the amount reported during the rule of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. This information was obtained from the meeting minutes of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of home affairs held on Thursday. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the meeting that despite negotiations on the issue the Myanmar military regime is patronizing the smuggling of yaba pills to Bangladesh. That’s why the smuggling of the illegal drug has increased. Also read: PM Hasina urges Myanmar to ensure dignified return of Rohingyas to their homeland He mentioned that apart from the most-used route of bordering Naf River the contrabands enter Bangladesh through the remote land border areas too. The home minister said that Bandarban and Khagrachari, used as yaba routes, have many inaccessible areas where round-the-clock surveillance is not possible.   It takes two days to go from one BOP to another BOP there, he added. He also said that the number of BOP is being increased in all those areas. Chairman of the committee Shamsul Haque Tuku said, yaba started arriving in Bangladesh through the Rohingyas coming from Myanmar. “Then it gradually spread throughout the country,” he said. He expressed his frustration saying that despite declaring a war against drugs, it is not possible to prevent drug trade and consumption. According to the minutes of the meeting, issues relating to committees of mosques, temples and graveyards were discussed in the previous meeting of the parliamentary watchdog. In that meeting, Tuku said the truly religious and good people are staying away from the mosque, temple and cemetery committees. Also read: UK announces new sanctions, legal action in support of Myanmar’s Rohingya community Those involved in drug or anti-social activities are coming to these positions through political influence. As a result, honest people are not able to contribute to the society, he told the meeting. He said, if the committees of all the mosques, temples and cemeteries of the country are formed under the Islamic Foundation, it will bring positive results. The meeting decided to invite the director general of the Islamic Foundation to a meeting of the standing committee to discuss the subject. The meeting also discussed the issue of TikTok extensively. Chairman Tuku said that TikTok is under fire for its negative use that leads to violence, rumours and misinformation. He recommended closing the social media app. According to the director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC) said that young people in Bangladesh spend 80 per cent of their Internet time on TikTok. “This platform is used to spread vindictive misinformation and hate speech. It has more negative uses than positive ones,” he said at a separate event. He also said that a letter has already been sent to BTRC to stop TikTok app with all kinds of data. Meanwhile, the press release of the Parliament Secretariat informed that citizens have been advised to keep vigil against any attempt to disturb communal harmony in the country. The parliamentary body also recommended posting of husband and wife in same area, if they are working in government service. Chairman of the committee Shamsul Haque Tuku chaired the meeting. Committee members Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Md Habibur Rahman, Samshul Alam Dudu, Kujendra Lal Tripura, Noor Mohammad, Sultan Mohammad Mansoor Ahmad and Rumana Ali were present at the meeting.