Narinjara News, 25 May, 2025 

The Bangladesh Coast Guard apprehended five individuals while seizing 340 bags of cement being smuggled to Rakhine state in western Myanmar on May 24, a local news outlet, the Okiya News, reported.

The detentions occurred during a special operation carried out by the Bangladesh Coast Guard in the waters near Cox's Bazar at 2 am on Saturday based on confidential information. 

While the operation was underway, the coastguard signaled a suspicious boat to halt, but it disregarded the signal and attempted to flee swiftly, leading to a pursuit that continued for hours, Coast Guard Media Officer Lieutenant Harun-or-Rashid informed reporters on Saturday afternoon (May 24). 

 The five individuals taken into custody are Momtaz Ahmed (50), hailing from Taknaf; Arafat (30), from Bhola; Ibrahim (26), from Baguna; and Md. Shukkur (50) and Md. Johar (36), from the Kutupalong refugee camp.

The confiscated cement bags, together with the smugglers and the vessel utilized for smuggling, are being placed under detention. 

After hostilities with AA reemerged in Rakhine State in November 2023, the military council restricted trade routes in Burma proper and Rakhine, both land and water, leading to a lack of food, medicine, consumer items, building supplies, and agricultural resources in Rakhine State.

Currently, Rakhine is importing these goods and materials from India and Bangladesh via the border. 

India permits the export of goods to Rakhine state at the border for humanitarian reasons, but Bangladesh is presently obstructing exports from that border. There are also criticisms that this benefits the Myanmar military.