A massive consignment of methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 88 crore was seized and four members of an international drug cartel were arrested in Imphal and Guwahati zones, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.
Shah also said the drug haul is a testament to the stellar performance of the bottom-to-top and top-to-bottom approach towards investigation and asserted that the Narendra Modi government’s crackdown on drugs will continue.
“No mercy for drug cartels. Accelerating the Modi govt’s march to build a drug-free Bharat, a massive consignment of methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 88 crore is seized, and 4 members of the international drug cartel are arrested in Imphal and Guwahati zones,” he wrote on X.
The home minister expressed his “heartfelt” congratulations to the Narcotics Control Bureau for the success.
Acting on a tip-off, the officers of NCB Imphal zone carried out an operation on March 13. The NCB team intercepted a truck near the Lilong area and recovered 102.39 kg of Methamphetamine tablets from a toolbox in the rear section of the truck, according to an official statement.
Two occupants of the truck were arrested, it added.
Without delay, the team immediately conducted a follow-up operation and apprehended the suspected receiver of the contraband from the Lilong area, the statement said.
A four-wheeler, used for drug trafficking, was also seized and the man was subsequently arrested, it said.
The suspected source of the contraband is Moreh town in Manipur. Further investigation is underway to nab others involved in the case, the statement said.
In another operation on the same day, officers of the NCB-Guwahati zone intercepted an SUV on the Assam-Mizoram border near Silchar and seized 7.48 kg of Methamphetamine Tablets concealed inside the spare tyre of the vehicle, it said.
The occupant of the vehicle was arrested, according to the statement.
The source of the contraband was Moreh and the suspected destination was Karimganj in Assam, the statement said.
Further investigation to nab others involved in the case is going on, it said.
Meanwhile, the NCB would be taking over the probe from the Mizoram State Excise Department into the seizure of about 46 kg of crystal meth from Brigade Bawngkawn in Aizawl on March 6.
In this case, four people involved in the drug syndicate have already been arrested.
The investigation is being taken over by NCB to probe the international and inter-state linkages of the drug trafficking network, the statement said.
The Northeastern region has emerged as one of the most vulnerable areas of India from the point of view of drug trafficking owing to its geographic location, it said.
Identifying this vulnerability, the Ministry of Home Affairs augmented the strength of the NCB in 2023 to further strengthen the “war against drugs” in the region.
The NCB, through its five zonal units and a regional headquarters in the Northeast, has been continuously working against drug traffickers operating in the region, particularly those involved in the trafficking of synthetic drugs such as Methamphetamine tablets, popularly known as YABA, it said.
These tablets pose a threat to not only the young population of the region, but also to the security of the nation as a whole, the statement said.