The Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued 55 people, including women and children, from a trawler off the Teknaf coast in Cox’s Bazar who were allegedly being taken to Malaysia by sea, and detained five suspected traffickers, bdnews24.com reported on 21 February 2026.
Coast Guard spokesperson Lt Commander Siam-Ul-Haq said three teams acted on a tip-off on the night of Thursday, 19 February. The trawler ignored a signal to stop and tried to flee before it was intercepted. According to the tip, people had been brought to Baharchhara in Teknaf for the trip.
Preliminary questioning found that trafficking syndicates were recruiting Bangladeshis and Rohingyas with promises of high-paying jobs abroad and low-cost travel, the spokesperson said. The five are suspects; legal proceedings were under way.
Source
- bdnews24.com: “Five ‘traffickers’ held as Coast Guard rescue 55 off Teknaf coast” (21 February 2026)
File photo: Bangladesh Coast Guard ship CGS Shadhin Bangla. Photo: Sadman Rafid / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
