Woman arrested in Cox's Bazar for using children to smuggle yaba
RAB-7 has detained a 40-year-old woman in Ukhia and taken two children into custody after yaba pills were smuggled in their stomachs. Doctors later recovered thousands of yaba tablets worth millions of taka through bowel movements at a hospital.
In a shocking incident involving child exploitation in narcotics trafficking, the elite crime-fighting unit RAB-7 has detained a woman named Sharmin Akter, also known as Ismat Ara, from Ukhia in Cox's Bazar. Along with the 40-year-old suspect, the security forces also took two children, aged 9 and 12, into protective custody following allegations that they were used as human mules to transport illegal drugs into Chittagong.
According to official details provided regarding the operation, the illicit activity came to light after the suspects were intercepted near the cattle market area adjacent to the Toilar Dwip bridge in Sarkar Hat under Anwara police station in Chittagong. The children were allegedly carrying the contraband hidden inside their bodies to evade law enforcement detection during transit.
Following their detention, the children were admitted to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital for medical intervention to safely retrieve the narcotics concealed within them. A. R. M. Mozaffar Hossain detailed the medical procedure, stating that with the assistance of attending physicians, the extraction process took place between September 6 and September 7 through natural bowel movements.
Elaborating on the haul retrieved from the minors, Mozaffar Hossain confirmed the exact quantities recovered from each child. The medical procedure successfully extracted 67 packets from the stomach of the 9-year-old child, while 66 packets were retrieved from the 12-year-old child, bringing the total number of packets to 133 across both victims.
From these combined packets, authorities recovered a staggering total of 6,615 yaba tablets that had been ingested for cross-district smuggling. According to preliminary estimates provided by officials, the street value of the total yaba seized during this operation is approximately 20 lakh taka.
The successful operation and subsequent hospital recovery highlight evolving and dangerous methods employed by trafficking rings in the region. RAB-7 is continuing its legal proceedings against the detained 40-year-old woman, Sharmin Akter, while the two minor victims remain under official protective custody following their ordeal.
