Coast Guard detained 11 smugglers with huge quantity of urea fertilizer while being smuggled to Rakhine State
The Bangladesh Coast Guard has detained 11 smugglers along with a large quantity of urea fertilizer while it was being illegally smuggled to Myanmar’s Rakhine State on Thursday morning.
Coast Guard Media Officer Lieutenant Commander Harun-ur-Rashid said this in a press release.
At around 4:00 AM on 7 May 2025, the Coast Guard ship BCGS Mansoor Ali spotted a suspicious engine-driven wooden boat about 4 nautical miles south of Chera Dwip, Saint Martin’s Island. Since a 58-day fishing ban is currently in effect in the Bay of Bengal, the presence of any boat in that area is illegal. When BCGS Mansoor Ali signaled the boat to stop, it ignored the signal and attempted to flee at high speed. The Coast Guard ship then pursued the boat for about an hour and eventually apprehended it.
Upon searching the boat, they found 742 sacks of urea fertilizer being smuggled to Myanmar’s Rakhine State without paying customs duties and taxes. Eleven traffickers were detained. The arrested individuals are residents of the Rohingya camp in Ukhiya and the Chattogram area.
The seized fertilizer was handed over to Teknaf Customs, and the arrested traffickers along with the boat used in the smuggling were turned over to the Teknaf Model Police Station.
Bangladesh Coast Guard continues its 24-hour patrol to maintain law and order in the country. As a result, law enforcement and anti-smuggling efforts in coastal and riverine areas under the Coast Guard’s jurisdiction have significantly improved. Similar operations will continue in the future to prevent smuggling.
