Drugs valued at Rs 100 crore seized in Assam, four arrested

Guwahati, Jan 9 (IANS) In one of the biggest drug seizures in Assam, the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police recovered narcotic substances valued at Rs 100 crore in Karimganj district, officials said. 

Police have arrested four people, including three natives of Mizoram, including a woman, on the charges of drug peddling.

On Tuesday afternoon, an STF team led by DIG Parthasarathi Mahanta began an operation in the Suprakandi area under the Nilam Bazar Police Station in the district based on specific information. During the raid, police found four huge cartoons of international cigarettes, 64,000 Yaba pills, and 5.1 kg of heroin in a vehicle that was traveling from Mizoram.

"This is a cross-border attempt to smuggle drugs and the consignment was coming from Champhai district of Mizoram which shares a border with Myanmar," the DIG said.

The arrested persons were identified as Lalchamliana, Zosangliani, Ramngheaka, and Nur Ahmed.

Ahmed, the driver of the car carrying the consignment, is a resident of the Karimganj district, according to the police.

According to police, they were all arrested in accordance with various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and are being questioned, and their cell phones have been taken for investigative purposes.

"We are trying to find the source, from there the consignment was coming and where they were heading to,” Mahanta said.

As per available data, this is the largest heroin seizure in Assam to date, according to Karimganj's Superintendent of Police Partha Pratim Das.

"The market value of these narcotic products have increased and in terms of money, this is the largest seizure of drugs in Assam till date and one of the biggest seizures ever in northeastern states," Das told IANS.

The police said that the drug dealers attempted to circumvent major roadways by using village roads as an alternative route to reach Mizoram and Assam.

"The driver, a Karimganj local, was aware of how to evade police checkpoints and main thoroughfares. However, our intelligence was able to obtain the data, and we apprehended them without delay," an investigating officer stated.

Senior Assam Police officers claim that Mizoram is the source of the majority of these consignments, and during questioning, drug dealers admitted that Myanmar was their source of supply.

--IANS

tdr/vd