The seizure of an entire drone unit from a Rohingya man in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district has put security and intelligence agencies along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border on high alert.
According to intelligence sources, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel arrested a 48-year-old Rohingya man, Mohammad Mostafa Kamal, at Hoikyang in Teknaf on the afternoon of January 17. Kamal is a resident of Tula Tuli in Myanmar’s Maungdaw district of Rakhine State. While security agencies have remained tight-lipped about the operation, intelligence officials in Dhaka confirmed the arrest and recovery.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, troops of the BGB’s 64th Battalion, deployed in Teknaf, conducted an operation approximately two kilometres north of border pillar 18 and around 800 metres inside Bangladeshi territory. During the raid, the BGB searched a residence at Choudhary Bari near the Bangladesh–Myanmar border, reportedly belonging to Kamal, who is described as a former village union member.
An intelligence official said several components of a drone were seized from the premises, allegedly linked to the armed Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The recovered items include a drone camera, three drone batteries, a drone controller, two walkie-talkie sets and six solar controllers.
“When assembled, these components together can function as a full-fledged drone capable of aerial surveillance,” the official said, adding that the make of the drone parts—whether Chinese or Turkish—has not yet been identified.
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Following the seizure, Bangladeshi security agencies have reportedly widened their investigation to determine whether additional drone units are being operated by ARSA or other Rohingya armed organisations active along the Bangladesh–Myanmar border.
The Hoikyang area is considered a sensitive zone where armed groups such as ARSA and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) are alleged to possess sophisticated assault weapons. These weapons have reportedly been used in clashes against the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Maungdaw region between August 2025 and January 2026.
Security officials are probing how such weapons and equipment may have reached Bangladesh and subsequently been transferred to Rohingya armed groups. Some officials suspect that arms consignments may have been offloaded from cargo ships docking at Chittagong over several months in 2025, though details remain unclear.
Allegations regarding the role of political authorities, security agencies and non-governmental organisations in facilitating funding or logistics for armed Rohingya groups have surfaced in intelligence assessments. However, no official confirmation has been issued by the Bangladesh government regarding these claims.
The Arakan Army, in a series of press statements issued between September and November 2025, had earlier highlighted the use of advanced weapons, communication equipment and protective gear by Rohingya armed outfits.
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