COX’S BAZAR — The Bangladesh Navy has seized two cement-laden trawlers and detained 22 people accused of smuggling cement to Myanmar by sea, the navy said. They were detained near St. Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal.
The navy confirmed the operation in a statement Wednesday evening.
The navy said it received information that a smuggling ring was using engine-driven trawlers to ship Bangladeshi cement to Myanmar without paying duties. Patrols were stepped up around St. Martin’s Island and surrounding areas in the Bay of Bengal. The patrolling vessel Pratyasha spotted two engine-driven trawlers in deep water about 36.5 miles west of St. Martin’s Island. The navy ship signaled the trawlers to stop, but they tried to flee. The trawlers were chased down and halted.
A search of the two trawlers, named Khaja Gharib-e-Newaz-6 and Ma-Babar Doa-10, recovered 1,500 sacks of Bangladeshi cement. Twenty-two people linked to the smuggling were detained. The seized goods and the detainees were handed over to Teknaf police station for legal action, according to the daily Kalbela.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report