Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazaar: Two Bangladeshi women were arrested by the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) for being in possession of a large number of Yaba methamphetamine pills at the border area on December 28, said a local resident from Ukhiya.

BGB arrested the two women with 29,000 Burmese Yaba tablets worth more than 5 million taka at the Maricha checkpoint as they were attempting to transport the drugs by rickshaw.

The women were identified as Rabia (30) and Rasheda Akter (28), both of Wykong Lamba Bill village, which is in the jurisdiction of the Teknaf Police Station.

BGB personnel checked the women and discovered the methamphetamine pills hidden on their bodies. The Yaba was brought from Burma.

The women said a man, Nurul Islam, recruited them to carry the tablets.

According to sources, the arrested women have long been involved in smuggling Yaba. They bring the drug from Burma to Bangladesh through their partners who live along the Bangladesh-Burma border.

The two were handed over to the Ukhiya police station by the BGB. The police have filed a case against the women regarding this matter.

In another drug-related development, members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) apprehended Parvin Akhter, known as the ‘Yaba Queen’, at Bank Colony at Savar in Dhaka on Tuesday. The authorities recovered 129 Yaba tablets from Parvin, sources said.

In 2010, the Bangladesh-Burma border area experienced an increase in the smuggling of Yaba pills. More people with Yaba tablets were also arrested and sent to jail, said a local businessman.