In a significant crackdown on cross-border drug trafficking, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Assam Rifles have seized banned methamphetamine tablets valued at Rs16.72 crore in separate operations across Mizoram and Tripura. Three drug peddlers have been arrested in connection with the seizures, officials confirmed Sunday.
In the first operation, based on intelligence inputs, DRI officials intercepted a vehicle at Seling in Aizawl district on Saturday. A concealed chamber beneath the rear seat of the vehicle revealed 10 packets containing 9.72 kg of methamphetamine tablets, estimated at Rs9.72 crore. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody.
In a parallel operation, Assam Rifles and DRI jointly intercepted a WagonR vehicle in Teliamura, Khowai district of Tripura, on Sunday. Authorities recovered 70,000 meth tablets valued at Rs7 crore. Two individuals — Shyamal Majumdar and Malay Debnath, both residents of Tripura — were arrested and handed over to the DRI.
A defence spokesperson noted that the operations highlight the continued commitment of Assam Rifles and DRI to counter drug trafficking and maintain security in India’s northeastern border regions.
Commonly known as “crazy drug,” yaba, or party tablets, methamphetamine is a highly addictive and banned substance in India. Initial investigations reveal that the contraband in both seizures was smuggled from Myanmar, likely via the Zokhawthar sector of the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram.
Officials added that since January, the DRI has seized over Rs72 crore worth of methamphetamine in Mizoram alone, arresting seven individuals in related cases. Myanmar’s unfenced 1,643 km border with Indian states — Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland — continues to be a vulnerable corridor for drug smuggling into India.
