Drugs valued at Rs 3.75 crore seized in Tripura; one held

Despite the heightened vigilance and intensified campaign, drug peddling in the northeastern states remains unabated as narcotic substances valued at Rs 3.75 crore, smuggled from Myanmar, have been seized in Tripura, the police said on Monday.

A police officer said that acting on secret information, the Tripura Police intercepted a car in the Panisagar area, adding a total of 1,50,000 highly addictive Yaba tablets valued at Rs 3.75 crore were recovered from the vehicle.

Police also arrested the driver and seized the vehicle.

"The drugs were smuggled from Myanmar and through Mizoram and southern Assam, the contraband entered Tripura. The drugs were intended to be smuggled to Bangladesh, where the Yaba tablets are very popular among drug-addicts," a police officer said.

The seizure on Monday happened three days after the confiscating of 80,000 Yaba tablets valued at Rs 2 crore in Dhalai district headquarters in Ambassa on November 1.

In both the incidents, cases were registered under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985.

Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, who also holds the Home and Health and Family Welfare portfolios, appreciating the police action against drugs smuggling said in a post on X: "Great job, Panisagar Police…Keeping our communities safe from the scourge of drugs!"

Earlier, on the eve of the Diwali, Assam Rifles on October 30 recovered huge quantities of drugs valued at Rs 18 crore in Tripura, smuggled from Myanmar, and was being ferried to the state via Mizoram and southern Assam.

Assam Rifles troops intercepted a vehicle at Narangbari in West Tripura district and recovered 90,000 Yaba tablets from the "hidden chambers" of the car. Two drug peddlers were also arrested.

Varied drugs, especially heroin and methamphetamine tablets, also known as party tablets or Yaba, are 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).