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Suspected Myanmar yaba smuggler shot by Bangladesh border guards dies from injuries

Xinhua, December 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

A suspected Myanmar yaba smuggler, who was injured in a "gunfight" between his cohorts and Bangladesh border guards along the Naf River early Thursday, has died from his injuries in hospital.

The deceased was identified as Darbesh Mia.

The Border Guard Bangladesh, in a mobile SMS to a Xinhua correspondent in Dhaka, confirmed the death Thursday evening.

It said on a tip-off that a gang of smugglers were heading towards Bangladesh from Myanmar at around 3:30 a.m. (local time), a team of border guards launched a drive there.

Sensing the presence of the paramilitary border guards, the smugglers opened fire at them, prompting the border guards to retaliate, resulting in the gunfight that left one smuggler injured with bullets, it added.

They arrested the smuggler who later died at a hospital in Cox's Bazar, some 391 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

Another smuggler was detained with around 30,000 pieces of yaba tablets, according to the mobile SMS.

Yaba tablets, often used for sexual stimulation in Bangladesh, continue to be increasingly popular among drug users, in spite of the efforts of law enforcement agencies to contain the dangers of narcotics trade.

An official of the Home Ministry had earlier said the drug was also smuggled into Bangladesh by air and land routes from some other countries in the region, including Nepal and Thailand.

The official said on condition of anonymity that the drug mainly comes from Myanmar with which Bangladesh shares 271 km of border, 208 km along the land and 63 km along the river. Enditem