Illegal arms are flowing into Bangladesh through seven major routes along the 271-kilometer Bangladesh–Myanmar border. Intelligence reports indicate at least five organized syndicates—four Rohingya militant groups (ARSA, RSO, Halim Group, Nabi Hossain Group) and one hill district insurgent network—are trafficking weapons from Myanmar into Bangladesh.

These weapons end up in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and insurgent hideouts across the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police have intensified surveillance, seizing over 22 local and foreign-made weapons in three months. RAB-15 reported recovering 1,279 weapons and arresting 163 armed individuals in the past 18 months.

Sources say that after the Arakan Army seized control of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, they began selling looted arms to Bangladeshi syndicates in exchange for food and daily essentials due to internal shortages. As a result, border regions are facing heightened security risks and cross-border criminal activity.