Teknaf, Bangladesh
Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) seized 1.4 million yaba tablets reportedly transported from the Maungdaw side toward Bangladesh, highlighting the suspected narcotics supply network linked to the terrorist Arakan Army (AA) along the frontier.
The seizure took place in the Nila border area of Teknaf on September 9, according to Bangladeshi media reports. BGB arrested two suspected smugglers and recovered the drugs from a boat entering from the Arakan side.
The seized yaba was reportedly worth around Tk 420 million. BGB identified the suspects as Joy Go Das and Mohammad Hossain, residents of Phuladil village under Nila Union.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Zahirul Islam, commander of the 64 BGB Battalion, BGB received intelligence about a major yaba shipment moving toward Bangladesh from the Maungdaw side.
The force subsequently increased surveillance along the border. Using thermal detection technology, BGB officers identified two people entering by boat from the Arakan side near Nila.
A search of the boat uncovered the 1.4 million yaba tablets, according to the BGB account.
The route has raised concerns over the suspected role of the terrorist Arakan Army (AA) in supplying narcotics toward Bangladesh. The scale of the shipment also points to an organized cross-border trafficking operation rather than small-scale movement.
BGB officials said smugglers continue to use different methods to transport yaba across the frontier. Modern drones and other surveillance technologies are now being used to monitor vulnerable sections of the border.
The latest seizure comes amid a much larger pattern of narcotics trafficking. BGB figures show that the 64 Battalion seized more than 14.3 million yaba tablets between January and September 2026 and arrested 243 suspects.
The seizure therefore underscores the continuing narcotics threat facing Bangladesh’s border communities. It also raises fresh security concerns over the use of cross-border routes from the Maungdaw area for large-scale drug trafficking.
Bangladesh authorities are continuing border surveillance and anti-smuggling operations as they seek to disrupt these trafficking routes.
