170,000 yaba tablets seized

Bangladesh’s border watchdog has seized a Myanmar trawler with 170,000 pieces of Yaba tablets at Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district. A BGB patrol carried out the operation on Sunday afternoon at Naf River’s outfall in Shah Parir Dwip. The border guards fired a warning shot and the people on the trawler jumped into the river. BGB-42 Battalion Commander Lt Col Abujar Al Zahid said they had signalled a suspicious trawler from Myanmar to stop but those on-board tried to get away with the vessel. The seized Yaba tablets have an estimated street value of around Tk 51 million, Zahid said. Yaba, originally manufactured by the Nazis (as German rulers were called during 2nd Warld War) to keep the troops awake for days, gained popularity among party-goers across East and South Asia. Myanmar’s United Wa State army, a rebel group, is reportedly the drug’s main producer now. Teknaf is a popular route for smuggling of the contraband tablet, according to bdnews24.com.