Assam drug bust: 2.6 lakh Yaba tablets from Mizoram seized, smugglers escape

Cachar superintendent of police Numal Mahatta on Friday said the vehicle was coming from Mizoram’s Champhai district, adjacent to the India-Myanmar international border

The Mizoram and Cachar frontiers of the Border Security Force (BSF) in a joint operation with Assam Police seized a large cache of drugs transported from Mizoram on Thursday night.

Police personnel after the drug bust on Thursday.

According to the BSF officials, 2,60,000 Yaba Tablets were recovered during this operation conducted in Katakhal area of Cachar, but the suspected drug peddlers managed to escape. The narcotic substances were kept in 26 packets inside secret chambers, they said.

“Acting on specific inputs, the BSF and Cachar Police intercepted one car on NH-37 near Srikona, Silchar, Assam and seized 2,60,000 Yaba tablets worth ₹26 crore (in the illegal market), concealed in a cavity of the vehicle,” the BSF wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday afternoon.

Cachar superintendent of police Numal Mahatta on Friday said the vehicle was coming from Mizoram’s Champhai district, adjacent to the India-Myanmar international border. According to him, the products will be worth ₹70 crores in the international market.

Mahatta said that two persons were transporting the consignment, but they managed to flee taking advantage of the darkness.

“They jumped into a nearby river and, but our search operation is on. We are confident that they’ll be arrested soon,” the SP told HT.

The investigating officers said there is a possibility that the consignment of Yaba Tablets came from Myanmar and the smugglers managed to traverse through Mizoram using local sources.

“The masterminds in drug supply activities generally involve local youths to transport these substances, and these people usually get arrested,” a senior Assam police official said.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma praised the police and BSF for the successful operation.