Drugs valued at INR 6.40 crore seized in Assam, Arunachal; 3 held

GUWAHATI/ITANAGAR — Heroin, smuggled from Myanmar, worth over INR 6.40 crore was seized and three persons were arrested in two separate operations by the police personnel in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, officials said.

Police officials said that 691 gm of heroin worth over INR 5.50 crore was seized and two drug peddlers identified as Sandeep Singh and Manoj Deka were arrested in Guwahati city.

Acting on secret information, police personnel conducted an operation near Chandmari flyover and apprehended the two drug peddlers travelling on a bike.

The heroin, weighing 691 gm hidden in ten soap boxes, was recovered from the duo after a thorough search.

Police officials said that the drugs, the value of which was estimated to be over INR 5.50 crore, might have been smuggled from Myanmar through Mizoram or Manipur.

The officials said that after a preliminary interrogation of the two drug peddlers, necessary legal formalities would be done.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in social media posts appreciated the police efforts in seizing the drugs and arresting the drugs peddlers.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the police arrested a drug peddler and recovered heroin weighing 48.3 grams, valued at Rs 90 lakh, from him at Ziro under Lower Subansiri district in Arunachal Pradesh.

The drugs are contained in 33 plastic vials.

The police said that the drug peddler identified as Hano Doley was arrested soon after he reached Ziro from North Lakhimpur in Assam.

A case has been registered under appropriate sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Arunachal Pradesh shares porous 1817 km borders with China (1080 km), Myanmar (520 km) and Bhutan (217 km) and smuggling of drugs mostly takes place from Myanmar.

Varied drugs, especially heroin and methamphetamine tablets, are smuggled into northeastern states of India from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643-km unfenced border with four northeastern states – Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km).