Drugs worth Rs 16 crore seized from Tripura woman's kitchen; one arrested

The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a joint operation have seized drugs worth Rs 16 crore in Tripura and arrested a woman drug peddler in Tripura on Monday.

A BSF spokesman said that on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the BSF and the NCB jointly seized 16 kg (around 1,60,000 tablets) highly addictive Yaba (methamphetamine) tablets valued at around Rs 16 crore from the bordering area of Boxanagar under Sepahijala District.

He said that based on specific information regarding the stocking of huge methamphetamine (Yaba) tablets, at the residence of one Lipiyara Khatun (33 years), a resident of Madhya Boxanagar, the joint operation conducted by BSF troops along with NCB Agartala led to the recovery of the drugs.

The drugs, wrapped in 16 packets with brown tape, were found buried inside the kitchen area.

During the operation, the house owner, Lipiyara Khatun, was arrested for further questioning and legal action. The seized narcotics, along with the woman, were handed over to NCB Agartala for further legal proceedings. This successful joint operation once again underscores BSF’s firm commitment to curbing cross-border smuggling and drug trafficking in the state of Tripura in coordination with sister agencies, an official statement said.

A drug seizure on Monday occurred within a week after a similar one in Tripura. On October 6, in one of the major drug hauls, the Assam Rifles, in close coordination with the Customs officials, seized contraband valued at Rs 70 crore in Tripura and arrested four drug peddlers.

A defence spokesman had said that in a major strike against drug trafficking, Assam Rifles, in close association with Customs officials, intercepted two trucks carrying cement as cover-up cargo for trafficking narcotics and recovered 69.61 kg methamphetamine tablets valued at around Rs 70 crore.

The spokesman said that the October 6 operation was a follow-up to the successful operation conducted on September 29 in the bordering Mohanpur in the West Tripura district.

An operation on September 29 led to the recovery of 60.77 kg of banned methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 60 crore. A senior police official said that the drugs might have been smuggled from Myanmar and, through Mizoram and southern Assam, were brought to Tripura to be smuggled to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the Northeastern state vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border smuggling and illegal trades, migration, various crimes, infiltration and movement issues.