COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh – The coast guard Tuesday (May 20th) arrested 66 illegal migrants from two trawlers off St. Martin's Island as they sailed toward Malaysia, local media reported.

Teknaf station commander Harun-or Rashid said six crew members and four smugglers were also arrested, United News of Bangladesh reported.

Coast guard members launched the operation in the Bay of Bengal early Tuesday and seized the trawlers carrying the Bangladeshi migrants, who were being trafficked by human smugglers, the Prothom Alo reported.

The traffickers opened fire as the coast guard vessels approached, forcing the officers to retaliate. Four people were injured, including coast guard member Mohammad Hasan. The other three included two Burmese nationals.