[ad_1]
Tripura Police Thursday arrested two persons with 3.46 kg heroin at Ambassa in Tripura’s Dhalai district. With a market value of nearly Rs 14 crore, this is one of the single largest drug bust in the state till date.
Dhalai district superintendent of police Avinash Rai later told the media that the two drug peddlers arrested with possession of the heroin consignment are residents of Boxanagar in Sepahijala district.
“We are now investigating to find out the source and intended destination of the drug consignment,” the SP informed. He also said as per preliminary investigation, the drug was mainly headed for Bangladesh but a portion of it was also supposed to be sold in Tripura for consumption locally.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, Ambassa Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Suman Majumder later said the drugs were enroute from Mizoram to Bangladesh via Tripura.
“We intercepted a Mahindra Thar Jeep at a naka point near Ambassa police station based on a tip-off. The heroin was concealed in 300 cases hidden inside the vehicle in an improvised cloth bag,” Majumder said.
The two persons carrying the drug were identified as Mahabul Alam and Piklu Bhowmik. The vehicle has been seized, the police said.
Earlier this month, the state police had said in a statement that as per central agencies’ data, Tripura ranks second in terms of seizure of drugs and the highest destruction of narcotics items in the North Eastern states.
A statement issued by the office of Assistant Inspector General (Law and Order) Jyotishman Das Chowdhury had said a total of 245 cases under the NDPS Act were registered and more than 373 accused persons were arrested this year till May 2023. During the period, narcotic items worth more than Rs 70 crore were seized, contrabands worth more than Rs 12.5 crore were destroyed.
According to the police, the high rate of seizure of drugs is a result of extensive checking at the naka points on the national and state highways and arterial roads, frequent raids at suspected places and surprise special drives for seizures and destruction of cannabis.
The extensive anti-drug actions taken as a part of the ‘Nasha Mukt Tripura’ campaign run by the state government are aimed at eradicating the problem of drug menace in the state. The state’s BJP-led government has been continuously cracking down on drugs since it first came to power in 2018.
Former chief minister Biplab Deb has been vocal about gaining a good Indo-Bangla relationship through a crackdown on drugs. Cannabis produced in Tripura and other banned drugs make for an economy of over Rs 1,500 crore annually, his administration had claimed, adding that the drugs were earlier smuggled to Bangladesh.
His successor and incumbent Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said after joining the 70th North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary meeting at Guwahati in October last year that Tripura is being used as a “corridor” for drug trafficking from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Recent BSF reports have suggested that smuggling of cannabis has come down but the use of synthetic drugs like heroin, brown sugar and yaba tablets has grown.
[ad_2]
