Drugs valued at Rs 16 cr seized in Tripura

Assam Rifles, in a joint operation with Customs, seized one kg of Crystal Methamphetamine tablets valued at Rs 16 crore from Badharghat, on the outskirts of the capital city Agartala on Sunday, officials said.

An official said that acting on a tip-off, Assam Rifles troops jointly with Customs officials, launched the operation in Badharghat areas and recovered the drugs.

Sensing the presence of the security personnel, drug peddlers fled leaving the contraband items, the official said.

An Assam Rifles official said that this operation highlights the unwavering commitment of the paramilitary in the fight against drug trafficking and illegal smuggling activities in the region.

A police official associated with the anti-drugs operations said that the Methamphetamine tablets, also known as party tablets or Yaba, were smuggled from Myanmar and through Mizoram and southern Assam, reached Tripura.

The drugs were intended to be smuggled to Bangladesh, where the Yaba tablets are very popular among drug addicts, the official said.

Mizoram, southern Assam, and Tripura become an easy corridor for drugs ferrying after being smuggled from Myanmar.

Varied drugs, especially heroin and methamphetamine tablets are often smuggled into the northeastern states of India from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643-km unfenced border with four northeastern states – Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km).

On November 20, in a significant haul of drugs in Mizoram, the Assam Rifles and state police jointly seized 28.520 kg of Methamphetamine tablets, 52 grams of heroin worth Rs 85.95 crore and a foreign pistol in three separate operations at Zokhawthar, a border village in Champhai district along the India-Myanmar frontier.

Assam Rifles sources said that two Myanmar nationals were apprehended with these drugs.