Drugs worth Rs 16.50 crore seized in Assam, Mizoram

SILCHAR (Assam)/AIZAWL: The security personnel have seized a huge cache of drugs valued at Rs 16.50 crore in southern Assam and adjoining Mizoram and arrested three persons, officials said on Thursday.

An official of Karimganj district police said that the police personnel based on secret information intercepted a vehicle and recovered 1.130 kg brown sugar, worth of Rs 10 crore, from the car on Wednesday night.

"The drugs were contained in 32 packets and concealed in a makeshift duct inside the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle Sabbir Ahmed said that he was shipping these drugs from Dimapur (Nagaland) and intended to take them to Tripura before smuggling them to Bangladesh," the police official said.

Police also seized the vehicle and arrested Ahmed, 29, a resident of Patharkandi under Karimganj district.

Police are also looking for the other drug peddlers in connection with the seizure of the brown sugar.

In another action, Assam Rifles troopers have arrested two persons and seized a huge cache of drugs valued at Rs 6.50 crore in eastern Mizoram's Champhai district bordering Myanmar.

An Assam Rifles statement said on Thursday that acting on a tip-off, the troopers of the Central paramilitary force arrested two youths from a hut in eastern Mizoram's Champhai district and seized 1,30,000 Methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 6.50 crore from their possession late Wednesday evening.

Officials of the Excise and Narcotics Department in Mizoram accompanied the Assam Rifles troopers during the operation.

The two detainees were charged under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Methamphetamine tablets (also called Yaba tablet or party tablet) contain a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine and are misused as high-dosage drugs in India, Bangladesh and neighbouring countries.

Officials said that the drugs were smuggled from Myanmar, which shares 1,643 km of unfenced border with four northeastern states — Mizoram (510 km), Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km) and Nagaland (215 km).

Smuggling of drugs, arms and other contraband takes place frequently in the northeastern region from across the borders, especially from Myanmar. (IANS)

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