Across the Bay of Bengal, a silent empire is expanding an empire built not on ideology, but on narcotics, extortion, forced displacement, and the systematic destruction of Rohingya lives. From the beaches of Bangladesh to the jungles of northern Arakan (Rakhine), the center of this criminal network is one man: Twian Mrat Naing, commander of the Arakan Army (AA) now increasingly described as the Pablo Escobar of Asia.

Formed in 2009 as a small insurgent group, the Arakan Army has mutated into something far more dangerous: a narco-militia masquerading as an ethno-political movement. After 2021, Twian Mrat Naing turned the organisation into a drug-fuelled war machine, prioritising revenue above all else. His deputies Brig. Gen. Nyo Twan Aung and Col. Kyaw Myat Oo built a sprawling methamphetamine network: taxing villages, controlling transit corridors, operating labs, securing jungle routes, and flooding Bangladesh with yaba. International laundering rings including Rock Investment in Singapore were used to hide profits and purchase weapons.

But the darkest chapter of this criminal project is happening in silence the Rohingya are being violently crushed under AA rule.

Human Rights Watch interviews with newly arrived Rohingya refugees from Buthidaung describe a chilling pattern:

Rohingya required AA permission for every aspect of daily life — work, travel, fishing, and farming
Food scarcity was deliberately engineered to starve communities
Homes and farmland were seized or placed under forced taxation
Movement was blocked with checkpoints and armed surveillance
Villages were subjected to intimidation, raids, and threats
And when families were desperate and weakened, they were forced into yaba trafficking

This is not a by-product of conflict.It is a calculated strategy to depopulate northern Rakhine, seize trade and transport routes, and cement full territorial control.

AA drug traffickers now use Rohingya men and boys as forced drug couriers along the most dangerous smuggling routes. On multiple occasions, AA operatives have crossed into Bangladesh disguised as Rohingya refugees, transporting yaba consignments via drones and submersible boats. For a stateless community that already survived genocide, this forced criminalization is a second form of annihilation, turning victims into targets and sabotaging any hope of dignified and safe return.

Bangladesh now faces three interconnected threats:

A generation of Bangladeshi youth addicted to yaba produced and trafficked by AA
Rohingya communities destabilized, extorted, and exploited under AA terror
A heavily armed, rapidly expanding drug cartel positioned directly across the border

Twian Mrat Naing is not just Myanmar’s problem; The Terrorist is emerging as one of the most dangerous destabilizing forces in the Bay of Bengal region.

The conclusion could not be clearer:
If Bangladesh does not adopt a decisive and coordinated security policy regarding the Arakan Army, national security, social cohesion, and border stability will face an unprecedented threat.

The AA’s narco-empire is expanding.
The Rohingya are being targeted, silenced, and used as disposable human shields.
And the region is marching toward a crisis that will not remain confined within Myanmar’s borders.