9 held with 10,000kg of urea fertiliser being ‘smuggled to Myanmar’

The Coast Guard has detained nine suspected smugglers and seized 10,000kg of urea fertiliser allegedly being smuggled to Myanmar from the deep sea southeast of Saint Martin’s Island in Cox’s Bazar.

The operation was conducted around 2am on Sunday (1 November), said Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon, media officer of the Coast Guard, at a briefing later in the day.

The detainees are Md Furkan, 60; Abdul Syed Noor, 32; Toufiq Islam, 34; Iqbal Hossain, 35; Saddam Hossain, 34; Md Rafiq Ahmed, 60; Abdul Shahjahan, 44; Alauddin, 44; and Md Abbas, 47.

Furkan, Abdul Syed Noor, Toufiq, Iqbal, Saddam and Rafiq are from Patiya and Karnaphuli in Chattogram. Shahjahan is from Chakaria in Cox’s Bazar, while Alauddin and Abbas are from Kamalnagar in Lakshmipur.

Sabbir Alam Sujon said a Coast Guard vessel deployed under Operation Shar Suraksha launched a special anti-smuggling drive in the area based on a tip-off.

During the operation, the patrol team signalled a suspicious boat to stop, but it ignored the signal and attempted to flee. The team chased and intercepted the boat in the deep sea, he said.

A search of the vessel led to the recovery of 10,000kg of urea fertiliser, worth around Tk2.5 lakh, allegedly intended for smuggling to Myanmar. The boat used in the operation was also seized, and its nine occupants were detained.

Legal proceedings against the detainees are underway, while the seized fertiliser and boat are being processed for further legal action, the Coast Guard official added.