2 bullet-ridden bodies found in Cox's Bazar

Police yesterday found the bullet-ridden bodies of two alleged Rohingya drug dealers in Cox's Bazar, known for its connection with the Myanmar meth trade.

Prodip Kumar Das, officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station, said the bodies were found lying next to a highway beside the Bay of Bengal and some 10,000 meth pills were found with the bodies.

“Both of these refugees were... notorious drug dealers in the region. We're suspecting they were killed in a gang fight over sharing profits,” he said.

The police said they were investigating the deaths but did not provide further information on the two men.

Over 720,000 Rohingyas have fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state since August 2017. They joined some 300,000 Rohingyas already living in camps in Cox's Bazar.

Bangladeshi authorities say local kingpins use the refugees -- trapped in poverty and unlikely to return home any time soon -- to transport yaba pills which are made in Myanmar meth labs.

Yaba is a methamphetamine-based, caffeine-cut stimulant that translates as “crazy medicine”.

The coastal town on the Naf river that divides the two neighbours is a key entry point through which yaba enters Bangladesh.

In May last year, Bangladesh launched a violent anti-drug crackdown which saw deaths of at least 250 drug dealers, including 26 in Teknaf in the last three months.