Coast Guard seizes 1,600 bags of cement near Saint Martin’s
Bangladesh Coast Guard detained 18 alleged smugglers and seized 1,600 bags of cement in two separate drives near St Martin's Island, a Coast Guard official said on Tuesday.
Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon, media officer of the Coast Guard, said that based on secret information, a special drive was conducted at around 1:00am on 24 February, 2026 (Tuesday) by Coast Guard ship Kamruzzaman, deployed under Operation Shomudra Prohori.
During the drive in the south-western waters adjacent to Chera Dwip, personnel searched a fishing boat and seized 1,000 bags of cement, worth approximately Tk 5 lakh, allegedly being smuggled to Myanmar after evading customs duties. The fishing boat used for smuggling and 10 suspects were detained.
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In a separate drive at around 3:00am, Coast Guard ship Opurbo Bangla, deployed under Operation Coral Dwip, conducted another operation in the same maritime area. During the operation, personnel seized 600 bags of cement, worth approximately Tk 3 lakh, from another fishing boat allegedly bound for Myanmar, and detained eight suspects along with the vessel.
Legal procedures against the detained individuals and the seized boats and cement were under process, the official said.
He added that the Coast Guard will continue such drives to prevent smuggling and illegal activities in maritime areas.
