report in The Daily Star, Oct 6, 2023
One of the top drug and arms dealers in Cox’s Bazar, Zafrul Islam Prakash used to smuggle 40 to 45 lakh pieces of yaba pills every month from a neighbouring country.
Zafrul, who also goes by the name Babul Member, has a gang of 20 to 25 armed persons who assist him in his criminal activities, which include extortion, gold smuggling, illegal sand extraction, cattle smuggling, and razing hills.
He is accused in at least nine cases, including some for murder and smuggling.
The Rapid Action Battalion said this after his arrest. The Rab-15 arrested Zafrul, 42, from the Katakhali area in Teknaf with 55,000 pieces of yaba, two firearms, and ammunition in the early hours of yesterday.
“In primary interrogation, Zafrul admitted that he has several fish projects and has amassed huge assets, including luxury flats, trucks, and land worth around Tk 50 crore in Cox’s Bazar,” Khandaker Al Moin, Rab’s legal and media wing director, told a press conference in Dhaka.
The Rab official said Zafrul is a close aide of notorious Rohingya criminal Nabi Hossain, who operates a gang in refugee camps and Cox’s Bazar and is involved in extortion and smuggling.
Zafrul became involved in smuggling in 2005. He used to bring in drugs from Myanmar and supply them to different parts of the country.
In 2017, he met Nabi and became more involved in drug, arms, and gold smuggling. Nabi’s syndicate members assisted Zafrul in smuggling products through the Naf river. In return, Zafrul used to supply food and arms to Nabi, who used to remain hidden on floating boats in the river.
In 2001, Zafrul got admitted to the chemistry department at Chittagong University but stopped studying there after a year. He completed his BA degree from a local college in 2003.
In 2021, he became a union parishad member. https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/top-narco-arms-dealer-held-teknaf-rab-3436036
