Law enforcers in separate drives seized eight lakh, 37 thousand 463 Yaba tablets worth about Tk 30 crore from Feni in the last two and a half years.
Squadron leader Shafayet Jamil Fahim, commanding officer of RAB-7, said Feni has turned into an illegal Yaba hub due to its geographical location. It has road and rail links with other districts.
Sources said Bangladesh-Myanmar bordering area is the main point of yaba smuggling and Feni has turned into an illegal Yaba hub due to its geographical location.
RAB sources said they have identified a godfather and at least three more Chittagong-based syndicates, but refused to disclose their names.
RAB-7 arrested three people, including a woman, along with 40,000 yaba tablets worth around Tk 1 crore at Mahipal in Sadar upazila on March 28. The arrested were identified as Manisha Akhter, 18, Md Shahabur Ali and Shafikul Islam. They all hail from Matihar, Charghat and Shah Makhdum upazilas in Rajshahi.
Being tipped off, a team of the elite force conducted a drive on Dhaka-Chittagong highway in the area and halted a Dhaka-bound private car coming from Chittagong around 11.00pm, said Squadron leader Shafayet Jamil Fahim, commanding officer of Feni Rab-7. The RAB members recovered 40,000 pieces of yaba tablets after searching the car and arrested the three people.
RAB arrested a police officer from Feni's Lalpool with 680,000 Yaba tablets on June 21, 2015. 'Yaba' is the street name of methamphetamine tablets produced in Myanmar's infamous 'Golden Triangle'. The arrestee is Special Branch Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Md Mahfuzur Rahman.
Rahman, posted in Dhaka, was carrying the large Yaba consignment from Cox's Bazar to Dhaka, He was travelling in his own car. A patrol team of the elite force chased the car on hearing that it had run over a child at Lalpool. ASI Rahman was driving the car while his driver Jabed Ali was in the passenger seat, said the RAB official.
"A total of 680,000 Yaba tablets were found after searching the vehicle." He said the consignment was worth TK 272 million.
Four mobile phones, Tk 700,000 in cash and credit cards were also found with the two along with three notebooks "The notebooks contain details of financial transaction Tk 284 million with 14 persons," said RAB officer said.
Security officials In neighbouring India, who are serving in the country's troubled northeast, have often been found smuggling Yaba and heroin.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members recovered 65,000 contraband Yaba tablets from an orange-laden covered van in Feni on December 12, 2015. They also detained two suspected drug dealers--Md Shohel alias Sohagh, 28, and Md Saiful Islam Nizam, 27- from the covered van.
A BGB official requesting anonymity said only 10 percent drugs are seized by law enforces. The rest of drugs enter the country and transport to different areas, the official added.
