KALADAN NEWS

Dated- August 04, 2003, Mon

Coastal Guards Seized Series of Cargo ships with Fertilizer

Teknaf, August 04: On July 27, 2003, Bangladesh Coastal Guard seized a cargo ship loaded with fertilizer in Bay of Bengal near Saint Martin Island while on their way to Burma, said an owner of the cargo ship.

Then, the cargo ship was carried with 16 crewmen to the Chittagong Port and the goods were unloaded there. The arrested crewmen were lodged cases against them, he further said.

The ship carried about (160 metric tons) of urea fertilizer worth Taka 10 millions, said a custom to our source.

Similarly, On July 25, nine cargo ships loaded with fertilizer of 50, 000 bags, were seized by Bangladesh Coastal Guards in Bay of Bengal near Khutop Dia (Island) and Moeshkhali of Chittagong district with 35 crewmembers, according to a custom officer.

On July 19, 2003, in the evening, the Coastal Guards of Bangladesh from Bay of Bengal near Saint Martin Island of Bangladesh seized another cargo ship loaded with chemical fertilizer. They also arrested 16 crewmen, a fisherman told our correspondent.

Everyday between 1000 to 2000 tons of chemical fertilizer including urea are smuggled into Burma. While on their return trip, they carry table salt, current nets, cigarettes and cigarette- papers, carbon papers, fresh water fish, spices and Posta Dana (a kind of white small seeds) back, according to a journalist at Teknaf.

A syndicate was formed at Chittagong to carry out this smuggling business between Burma and Bangladesh since long time. The other collaborators are from Teknaf and Shafuri Dip (island). They have another syndicate for Dollar business to run the smuggling smoothly, he further added.

Though the administrators on both sides of the border are planning to speed up legal import and export, the local merchants are found to go for the illegal trade, said a custom to our source at Teknaf. ##

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