Aizawl, Feb 11 (IANS) Assam Rifles along with police on Tuesday seized highly addictive methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba tablets, worth Rs 173.73 crore in Mizoram, officials said.
A defence spokesman said that the Assam Rifles troops along with police recovered the Methamphetamine tablets weighing 57.91 kgs worth Rs 173.73 crore at the border village Zokhawthar in Champhai district, which shares unfenced frontiers with Myanmar.
Based on specific intelligence about the movement of narcotics, Assam Rifles along with Mizoram Police established an ambush at crossing point 1, Vokte Kai.
The joint team spotted the movement of suspected individuals carrying illegal consignments and intercepted them. The suspects got alert and ran away leaving the consignment behind. The entire consignment was handed over to the Police at Zokhawthar for further investigation and legal proceedings.
The spokesman termed the seizure of huge drugs as an unprecedented success in the para-military forces’ crusade against smuggling activities.
Meanwhile, Tripura Police also seized narcotics worth over Rs 30 crore in the past 48 hours and arrested three drug peddlers.
An official stated that police in Tripura’s Dhalai district intercepted a truck carrying 9.24 lakh Yaba tablets worth Rs 28 crore and arrested the driver and his assistant, both residents of Assam.
Police officials revealed that interrogations of the arrested drivers indicated the drugs were smuggled from Myanmar via Mizoram and Assam before entering Tripura, en route to Bangladesh.
Mizoram shares a 510 km-long unfenced border with Myanmar’s Chin state, which makes drug smuggling rampant through its six districts: Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual, and Serchhip. 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) -- serves as a key transit point for drugs, particularly heroin and methamphetamine tablets, entering India.
From the northeastern states, these drugs are further smuggled into Bangladesh, which shares a 1,880 km border with Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km), and Assam (263 km).
While a significant portion of the India-Bangladesh border is fenced, the India-Myanmar border remains entirely open, facilitating illicit trafficking.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, who also holds the Home and Health portfolios, lauded the police for their efforts in curbing drug smuggling.
On Monday, Tripura Police intercepted another vehicle in North Tripura district, recovering 50,000 Yaba tablets worth Rs 2.5 crore from a hidden compartment and arresting the driver.
