Yaba is still being widely smuggled into Bangladesh, despite the Bangladesh authorities’ crackdown on yaba trafficking along the Burmese border, says an analyst from Maungdaw.

He said, “With the recent arrest of yaba traffickers in the border area, we can easily see that yaba stimulant tablets are still getting into Bangladesh.”

The border authority of Bangladesh arrested a Burmese man with 205 yaba tablets in his possession on Tuesday in a raid on a border village.

The Burmese man was identified as Mr. Mohamad Alir, and was arrested while he was staying in Zaliya Village in the border town of Teknaf, opposite Burma’s Maungdaw.

In recent months, Bangladesh authorities have arrested many Burmese along the border for smuggling yaba tablets into Bangladesh.

“I don’t think this kind of smuggling will be stopped by Bangladesh authorities in a short period because the activity is related to poverty,” the analyst said.

“Many Burmese people are now unemployed in western Arakan State and they are having difficulty maintaining their daily survival due to the high price of commodities. So the people are involved in the drug business just to stay alive,” he added.

Many people who are living in the western Burmese border area realize that the Bangladesh government has been cracking down on drug smuggling, but they are not afraid and continue to smuggle yaba to Bangladesh through many points along the border.

A source from Maungdaw said that the business of yaba requires little effort compared to other smuggling trades, but the profit can be very high. Many people, including government employees in Maungdaw, are involved in the yaba trade.