Assam: 3.5 lakh Yaba tablets, 1.3kg heroin worth ₹115 crore seized; 4 arrested
Assam STF inspector general of police Parthasarathi Mahanta said the consignment was coming from a neighbouring state and headed towards mainland India.
In a massive haul, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Assam Police seized 3.5 lakh Yaba tablets and 1.3 kg of suspected heroin worth ₹115 crore from Karimganj district on Friday.
Assam STF inspector general of police Parthasarathi Mahanta said the consignment was coming from a neighbouring state and headed towards mainland India.
“The price of these narcotic products increases once they reach their destination. This time, the drug peddlers used a different method. They kept the packets filled with drugs inside the gearbox of the truck they were travelling in,” he said.
Among the four arrested persons, one is a resident of Tripura while the other three hail from Karimganj district.
“The truck is registered under the name of another drug peddler who is currently in jail. A close associate of that person was using the vehicle. He has been arrested now,” Mahanta said.
The Karimganj police launched an operation near Puwamara area around 3.30pm on Friday based on specific information.
“We intercepted the vehicle on the bypass and during the search, a few hundred soap cases were found inside the gearbox of the vehicle. Our narcotic experts confirmed that the substances filled in those boxes were Yaba tablets and heroin,” the police said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Noimul Haque, Fuzail Ahmed, Atiqur Rahman and Jagajit Deb Barma. Police said that Noimul’s son Habib is the owner of the truck, who is in jail in drugs-related cases.
“All of them have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and will be produced before the court after investigation,” Karimganj superintendent of police Partha Pratim Das said.
In another seizure in Cachar district, police recovered 18,000 Yaba tablets worth ₹5.5 crore. One local was arrested in that case.
“These major seizures will firmly boost our war against drugs. Good job Assam Police,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on social media platform X.