Woman killed in Cox's Bazar shootout between border guards and suspected drug smugglers

A woman has been killed and at least four others injured in a shootout between border guards and suspected drug dealers in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf Upazila, which shares the border with Myanmar.

Cox's Bazar Sector Commander of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Col Md Rafiqul Haque said the incident took place around 4am on Thursday on the estuary of the Naf River near the Shaha Pori Island.

The deceased has been identified as Jaheda Khatun, 50, a resident of Myanmar’s Maungdaw township.

Those who received gunshot injuries are Maungdaw residents Rasheda Khatun, 25, Mojuma Khatun, 49, Mohammed Kashem, 70, and 20-year-old Mohammad Shafiq, a resident of Teknaf.

The victims were smuggling Yaba aboard an engine-run boat, BGB officer Haque told bdnews24.com.

They opened fire on the BGB patrol while trying to enter Bangladeshi waters, the border guards retaliated, injuring the five.

“They were taken to Teknaf Hospital, where doctors declared Jaheda dead. The other victims have been transferred to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital.

BGB said it has confiscated the trawler with a 'huge consignment' of methamphetamine-based yaba tablets.

Details will be available at a press conference, added Col Haque.

Yaba tablets are a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine, and a popular substitute for the party drug Ecstasy.

It made its way into Bangladesh's party scene in early 2000.

A series of sensational raids in 2007 and media coverage on the issue brought the drugs into limelight that year, leading to calls for stopping their use.

Methamphetamine, the key component of Yaba, is highly addictive and causes withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, insomnia, confusion, tremors, convulsions, anxiety, paranoia, and aggressiveness.

Yaba is usually smuggled into Bangladesh through 45 routes of Cox’s Bazar district, bordering Myanmar's Rakhine State, according to intelligence agencies.

Myanmar is infamous for producing yaba, opium and cannabis in vast quantities.

Drug trafficking has emerged as a problem in Rakhine State and illicit drug trade has flourished because of its mountainous land and porous borders.