Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Agartala, Oct 13 (IANS) The Border Security Force (BSF) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a joint operation have seized drugs worth Rs 16 crore and arrested a woman drug smuggler in Tripura on Monday. The officers provided this information.
A BSF spokesperson said that on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, BSF and NCB jointly seized 16 kg (approximately 1,60,000 tablets) of highly addictive methamphetamine tablets worth approximately Rs 16 crore from the border area of Boxanagar under Sepahijala district.
The drugs were recovered in a joint operation conducted by BSF troops with NCB Agartala, based on specific information regarding the storage of huge methamphetamine pills, also known as Yaba tablets, at the residence of Lipiyara Khatoon (33 years), resident of Central Boxnagar, he said.
The drugs, wrapped in 16 packets with brown tape, were found buried inside the kitchen area.
During the operation, the owner of the house, Lipiyara Khatoon, was arrested for further questioning and legal action. The narcotics seized along with the woman were handed over to NCB Agartala for further legal proceedings. This successful joint operation once again underlines the strong commitment of BSF to prevent cross border smuggling and drug trafficking in the state of Tripura in coordination with partner agencies, an official statement said.
The seizure of the drugs on Monday came within a week of a similar incident in Tripura. On October 6, in one of the biggest drug hauls, Assam Rifles, in close coordination with Customs officials, seized narcotics worth Rs 70 crore in Tripura and arrested four drug smugglers.
A defense spokesperson had said that in a major action against drug smuggling, Assam Rifles, along with customs officials, intercepted two trucks carrying cement as cover-up cargo for drug smuggling and recovered 69.61 kg of methamphetamine pills worth approximately Rs 70 crore.
The spokesperson said the October 6 operation was a follow-up to the successful operation conducted on September 29 in border area Mohanpur in West Tripura district.
In an operation on September 29, 60.77 kg of banned methamphetamine pills worth Rs 60 crore were recovered. A senior police officer said the drugs may have been smuggled from Myanmar and brought to Tripura for smuggling into neighboring Bangladesh via Mizoram and southern Assam.
Tripura, which has an 856 km long border with Bangladesh, is surrounded by the neighboring country on three sides, making the northeastern state prone and vulnerable to issues of cross-border smuggling and illegal trade, migration, various crimes, infiltration and movement.
–IANS
SC/DPB