15 tonnes of urea fertiliser seized in Mirsarai before smuggling to Myanmar, truck driver arrested

Smugglers are using the Mirsarai coast in Chattogram to move fertiliser through the Bay of Bengal to Myanmar. This time, Jorarganj police seized a truck loaded with 300 sacks of urea fertiliser that was being taken for smuggling, and arrested the truck driver.

The truck was seized at a checkpoint on the Mirsarai National Special Economic Zone road at around 11:30 pm on Friday (6 November).

Police said they stopped the truck, which had come from Ghorashal in Narsingdi, acting on a tip-off. A search of the vehicle recovered 300 sacks of urea fertiliser.

The seized fertiliser weighs 15 tonnes and has an estimated market value of four lakh taka. The truck was also seized.

Police sources said an earlier operation by the same police station had seized 301 sacks of urea fertiliser and two trucks.

Jorarganj police station's officer-in-charge, Mohammad Abdul Halim, said smugglers have recently been using the Bay of Bengal off Mirsarai as one of the main routes for fertiliser smuggling.

He said, 'Today we have seized 300 sacks of urea fertiliser and a truck. The driver has also been arrested in this incident.'

The officer-in-charge added that further legal action will be taken in the matter.

This is not the first attempt to smuggle fertiliser by sea through the Mirsarai coast. Large quantities of fertiliser have been seized in the same police station area before.

Police say surveillance and checkpoint operations on the coastal road will continue to stop fertiliser smuggling to Myanmar by sea.