DHAKA, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Six Myanmar drug trafficking suspects were arrested after Bangladesh Coast Guard personnel chased their boat in the Bay of Bengal close to the southeastern border with Myanmar early Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, Lieutenant Commander Jafar Imam Sajib, commanding officer of Coast Guards stationed in Teknaf under Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, some 292 km southeast of the capital Dhaka, told Xinhua that the patrol team of Coast Guard personnel challenged the boat carrying the suspects.
"Coast guard personnel had to fire three warning shots as the boat tried to go back towards Myanmar," he said.
The Coast Guards finally intercepted the boat believed to be involved in drug smuggling.
"Six Myanmar citizens were arrested with suspected links to the seizure of 300,000 yaba pills from the boat," he said.
Yaba tablets, often used for sexual stimulation in the country, have been increasingly popular among drug users in Bangladesh, despite efforts of law enforcement agencies to contain the dangers of the narcotics trade.
On Jan. 17 last year, Bangladesh's elite force RAB seized 2.8 million yaba tablets, the biggest ever seizure of contraband yaba tablets in the country.
