Agartala, October 13: In a significant blow to cross-border drug smuggling networks, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a joint operation seized 16 kg of methamphetamine tablets — commonly known as Yaba — worth Rs16 crore from Boxanagar in Tripura’s Sepahijala district. A woman, Lipiyara Khatun (33), was arrested.
Based on intelligence inputs, BSF and NCB teams raided Khatun’s residence in Madhya Boxanagar on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. Authorities recovered around 1.6 lakh meth tablets packed in 16 brown-taped packets, buried inside the kitchen area of the house.
Lipiyara Khatun was taken into custody and handed over to NCB Agartala for further legal action. Officials believe the drugs were being stored for cross-border trafficking into Bangladesh, with which Tripura shares an 856 km porous border.
A BSF spokesperson said this seizure reflects the agencies’ coordinated efforts to curb narcotics smuggling and reinforces BSF’s commitment to safeguarding India’s borders from illegal activities.
This is the third major drug haul in Tripura in two weeks:
On October 6, Assam Rifles, in coordination with Customs, intercepted two trucks transporting 69.61 kg of meth tablets (Rs70 crore), hidden beneath cement sacks.
On September 29, security forces recovered 60.77 kg of meth worth Rs60 crore from Mohanpur, West Tripura.
Authorities suspect the narcotics were trafficked from Myanmar, routed through Mizoram and southern Assam, and brought into Tripura for further smuggling into Bangladesh.
Tripura’s vulnerable geography — surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh — has long made it a hotspot for cross-border smuggling, infiltration, and illegal trades.
