Bangladesh: The Coast Guard has arrested 24 smugglers and seized 850 bags of cement being trafficked by boat from Bangladesh to Myanmar in exchange for drugs.
Lieutenant Commander Siam-ul-Haq said the Coast Guard’s Chattogram Base launched the operation on 30 September 2025 after receiving confidential intelligence, according to local press. Officers intercepted a transfer of cement from a cargo ship to a fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal, bypassing customs and taxes. Two boats involved in the smuggling were confiscated.
The Coast Guard noted that cement smuggling through waterways to Rakhine has intensified in recent months amid deteriorating relations between the two sides.
