GUWAHATI/ITANAGAR — Security personnel seized drugs and ganja (cannabis) worth INR
2.38 crore and arrested three drug peddlers during the past 24 hours in three
northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, officials said on
Monday.
Drugs worth INR 1 crore were recovered in southern Assam’s
Cachar district and a person was arrested in this connection, officials added.
Police intercepted a vehicle at Digharkhal Toll Gate in
Cachar district after it came from neighbouring Mizoram. Over 8,640 bottles of
Codeine Phosphate cough syrup and 2 kg ganja, valued at INR one crore were
recovered from the vehicle.
Various cough syrups were used as drugs in different
northeastern states and neighbouring Bangladesh.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a post on X
appreciated the police for the seizure of the drugs.
In Arunachal Pradesh, ganja worth about INR 1.33 crore was
seized in West Kameng district. A police official said that over 1,654 kg of
cannabis was seized at Betchilling village under Kalaktang police station area.
The cannabis were contained in various bags and trunks.
The police registered a case under the Narcotics Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 and search is on to apprehend those
involved in cannabis smuggling, official said.
In Mizoram, Assam Rifles in coordination with Excise and
Narcotics department recovered 7.16 gram heroin worth INR 5.01 lakh from Siaha
Town and apprehended two drug peddlers.
Seizure of drugs, mostly smuggled from Myanmar, is a regular
occurrence in the northeastern states, especially in Mizoram, Assam, Tripura
and Manipur.
Various drugs, especially heroin and highly addictive
methamphetamine tablets are often smuggled into the northeastern states of
India from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643 km-long unfenced border with four
northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland
(215 km) and Mizoram (510 km).
