AI surveillance planned to block yaba smuggling routes

Despite massive seizures of yaba along Bangladesh’s border with Myanmar, the drug continues to reach Cox’s Bazar and other parts of the country through hill tracks, old roads and alternative routes.

To plug these gaps, Chattogram Range Police have proposed 11 checkpoints equipped with AI-powered facial recognition cameras, CCTV cameras, vehicle and luggage scanners and drug-detection dog squads.

The proposed network would extend surveillance from the border to major entry points, enabling police to identify suspected traffickers and intercept consignments before they reach urban areas.

Police have sought 321 additional personnel to operate the checkpoints, while equipment and infrastructure are estimated to cost nearly Tk13 crore. The proposal was sent to Police Headquarters on July 27.

According to the police report, yaba enters Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine State through the Naf River, sea routes and several land-border points. Teknaf and Ukhiya in Cox’s Bazar and Naikhongchhari in Bandarban have been identified as major entry points.

Once inside Bangladesh, traffickers often change routes to evade law enforcement, using remote hill tracks, old roads and connecting roads leading to major highways.

Police have identified seven proposed checkpoints in Ramu, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Ukhiya and Chakaria, three in Naikhongchhari and another at Garjoniya’s Dakbangla intersection.

Additional DIG Md Nazimul Haque of Chattogram Range said the checkpoints would help prevent yaba from moving deeper into the country.

"Suspected yaba traffickers will be stopped and searched at the checkpoints," he said.

If anyone evades a physical search, AI-powered cameras would help identify them. Images of suspected traffickers and their associates would be stored in the system for automated identification across the surveillance network.

Bhangar Mor at the end of Marine Drive has been given the highest priority, as police consider it a key gateway to Cox's Bazar town and tourist areas.

Forty-two personnel have been proposed for the checkpoint, along with a vehicle scanner, luggage scanner, dog squad, three AI cameras and 15 CCTV cameras.

Police have also identified several less-visible trafficking corridors, including the Ponero Chhara Forest Office-Katiar Matha route in Ukhiya, roads around Rangkut Buddhist Vihara and the remote road network around Garjoniya.

Akhtar Kabir Chowdhury, secretary of Sujan, Chattogram, said blocking trafficking routes was as important as drug raids. "Traffickers quickly look for alternatives when a route is blocked," he said, stressing the need for coordinated surveillance of border areas, hill tracks, alternative roads, railway routes and city entry points. The proposed checkpoint network is intended to close the gaps between border enforcement and urban policing, creating multiple layers of surveillance against the movement of yaba. Attempts to contact Additional DIG Mahbubul Karim for an update on the proposal were unsuccessful.