A bundle of 1,500 Yaba or methamphetamine tablets were removed by surgeons from a suspected drug trafficker’s stomach, when he came seeking treatment for abdominal pain, at the Centre of Specialized Care and Research (CSCR) in Chittagong on October 27, said a surgeon at the clinic.

The patient was identified as Bulu Meah (44) of Cox’s Bazaar, though police believe the name is an alias and that the man has been involved for many years in drug trafficking, a police official said.

Bulu Meah arrived at the clinic with another man, identified as Saiful Islam, and complained to doctors of severe stomach pain. An examination revealed that an operation was required, after which surgeons discovered and removed a seven-inch-long bundle of Yaba tablets wrapped in plastic, a clinic doctor said.

Officers of the Pachlash police station were informed, and the patient was later taken into custody on suspicion of drug trafficking.

A police official said that drug traffickers often swallow wrapped packages of Yaba tablets or insert them in their anus to avoid detection.

A case has been started against Bulu Meah under the Narcotics Control Act, a police officer said.

“I don’t understand how people dare to carry Yaba tablets this way just to avoid arrest by police or other agencies,” a trader from Cox’s Bazaar said.

Authorities in Cox’s Bazaar have made several drug seizures in recent weeks. Also on October 27, officers of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) from Battalion 39 Rifles arrested two suspected drug traffickers in possession of 2.65 kilograms of heroin, with a street value of 26.5 million taka, said Zayeed Hossain, commanding officer of the battalion.

Yaba tablets worth 2.06 million taka were seized on October 21 by the BDR’s Battalion 42 Rifles in Teknaf.

“Bangladesh has become a prime destination for heroin and Yaba produced in Burma,” said an elder from Teknaf on condition of anonymity.

He added that Indian marijuana and fensidar, a type of narcotic syrup, are also regularly trafficked into Bangladesh.