For years, Shaker Majhi made his living fishing in the Naf River and the Bay of Bengal. But over time, fish stocks declined and his income shrank. Around 2007, he noticed that a new and lucrative trade — human trafficking by sea — was rapidly expanding. In front of his eyes, people were being transported overseas on fishing trawlers.
One day, traffickers approached him with an offer: he would earn Tk20,000 for each passenger he could recruit for a trawler journey. The amount stunned him. It was far more than he could make after days battling storms at sea to catch fish.
That marked the beginning of his new profession — recruiting people for trafficking networks. By promising poor Bangladeshi and Rohingya youths a better life abroad, he persuaded many to join the dangerous voyages.
Over time, the trade evolved from persuasion to abduction. More passengers meant greater profits. A vast trafficking network emerged, and after nearly two decades, Shaker became widely known in the area as a “human trafficking boatman”. Gradually, an ordinary fisherman turned into a trafficker, selling people one by one as if trading fish by the kilogram.
The issue drew renewed attention in Cox’s Bazar after a trawler carrying nearly 300 passengers capsized in the Andaman Sea on 8 April.
A month-long investigation by Kaler Kantho uncovered the key figures behind the trafficking and kidnapping operations, exposing a deeply organised criminal network involving deception, ransom demands, brokers, transport points and repeated maritime tragedies.
Investigators found that in the early years the syndicate built its business through relatively “peaceful” trafficking operations. Success stories of migrants reaching Malaysia were heavily promoted to attract more customers and raise prices. As demand increased, so did the number of trawlers.
However, repeated sinkings in the open sea, which left many dead or missing, made local communities more cautious. Passenger numbers began to decline. To keep the boats full, traffickers increasingly turned to kidnapping alongside false promises. Victims were often held hostage in Bangladesh or abroad while families were forced to pay large ransoms.
Some migrants reached foreign destinations, but many disappeared at sea or died under torture. Behind the trade operates a multilayered trafficking syndicate involving kidnappers, brokers, boatmen, returnee migrants and drug dealers — all participating in what locals describe as a “human hunting network”.
The investigation identified more than 15 alleged ringleaders involved in trafficking and abductions. Many were once fishermen or ordinary boatmen like Shaker. Others now pose as CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers while secretly participating in the crimes. Many began as local brokers persuading people to migrate before later becoming kidnappers themselves.
Investigators also identified 11 departure points in Teknaf and Ukhiya from which these deadly sea journeys begin. The busiest routes reportedly operate from Baharchhara’s Noakhali Para, Sabrang and Moheshkhali Para.
A Rohingya man named Abu Tayyab provided particularly alarming testimony. Speaking through a broker in March, he claimed that he and several associates had trafficked an estimated 120,000 people to Malaysia during 2024 and 2025 alone. Victims were reportedly transported by small boats from coastal points before being transferred to larger trawlers in deep waters.
On 9 April, after rescuing nine people adrift in the Andaman Sea, the Coast Guard said they had been attempting to travel illegally to Malaysia by trawler. The vessel had sunk the previous day, leaving more than 250 people missing. Six of the rescued individuals later admitted involvement in trafficking operations and were named in a case filed at Teknaf Police Station. According to the Coast Guard, the fishing trawler FV Tanzina Sultana had been carrying at least 260 passengers.
Investigators later identified the trawler’s captain as Syed Alam, also known as Syed Majhi, who is currently in jail in Cox’s Bazar. Intelligence sources allege that he was recruited for the voyage by Shaker Majhi for Tk100,000, and that his brother Nana Majhi was also involved in the operation.
Police later questioned the suspects during remand hearings, though investigators said none confessed and instead blamed one another. However, officials confirmed that important information had been obtained.
Multiple intelligence and law enforcement sources identified Nana Majhi as a central coordinator of the Teknaf-based trafficking network. He allegedly works under Malaysia-based trafficking kingpin Mawlavi Abdur Rahim, overseeing passenger recruitment, trawler preparation and smuggling operations to Malaysia and Thailand.
The investigation traced the origins of the maritime trafficking route back to Rahim, who reportedly began transporting migrants to Malaysia by trawler around 2005 after discovering an effective sea route. Over time, he became one of the central figures in trafficking operations across the Bay of Bengal.
The trafficking crisis first gained major international attention in 2015 after mass graves of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas were discovered in remote jungle camps in Thailand’s Songkhla province. Although activity briefly declined afterwards, kidnappings and trafficking have surged again in recent years.
Investigators found that trafficking networks now extend deeply into Rohingya refugee camps. A Rohingya man named Syed Hossain allegedly coordinates agents in all 33 camps across Ukhiya and Teknaf. The group reportedly targets unmarried Rohingya women and vulnerable youths, using WhatsApp voice messages to coordinate operations.
Victims’ families described horrific experiences. One father said traffickers kidnapped his two sons, held them in camps in Thailand and demanded ransom payments. Although one son was eventually released after the family paid Tk400,000, the other reportedly died under torture in captivity.
Local residents said trafficking syndicates now operate openly across Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar, infiltrating everyday professions including fishing, transport driving and small businesses. Marine Drive, the coastal highway linking Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf, is considered especially dangerous after dark, with criminal groups allegedly using children and women to monitor and lure potential victims.
One local resident described the grim reality succinctly: “Here people say a human head is worth Tk50,000. When a trawler departure date approaches, the traffickers become desperate. They will grab anyone they can and force them onto the boats.”
Courtesy:Kaler Kantho
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
