Agartala: In one of the largest drug seizures in recent months, Assam Rifles and Customs officials have recovered narcotics worth Rs 70 crore from Tripura’s Khowai district and arrested four suspected traffickers, officials said on Tuesday.
Acting on credible intelligence, a joint team intercepted two trucks in the Singhichhara area on Monday night.
The vehicles, reportedly carrying cement as cover cargo, were found to be concealing 69.61 kg of methamphetamine tablets — commonly known as ‘Yaba’ or ‘party drugs’.
A defence spokesperson said the successful bust was a follow-up to another major operation conducted on September 29 near Mohanpur in West Tripura, which led to the recovery of 60.77 kg of the same drug worth Rs 60 crore.
He added that the two operations are believed to be part of the same trafficking network operating across the Northeast.
Security officials said the latest operation was carried out after analysing leads from the earlier seizure, which helped identify key smuggling routes used by the syndicate.
The Assam Rifles described the twin operations as part of their sustained mission to dismantle drug networks and promote a “drug-free Northeast.”
Methamphetamine tablets — a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine — are highly addictive and banned in India.
The drugs are suspected to have been smuggled from Myanmar through Mizoram and southern Assam before reaching Tripura, from where they were likely destined for Bangladesh.
Tripura’s porous international border, stretching over 856 kilometres and sharing boundaries with Bangladesh on three sides, continues to make it vulnerable to narcotics trafficking and other trans-border crimes.
Though much of the frontier is fenced, officials say certain unfenced stretches remain hotspots for smuggling activities.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, who also heads the Home Department, recently told the state Assembly that law enforcement agencies have arrested 2,729 drug peddlers and 248 individuals for drug consumption over the past three financial years.
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He added that 28 more offenders remain absconding.
According to official data, the conviction rate under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act stood at 11.7 per cent in 2022 and 2023, and five per cent so far in 2024.
Following court directives, seized contraband is periodically destroyed under the supervision of high-level state and district drug disposal committees.
Officials said the recent string of drug busts underscores the coordinated effort by security agencies to choke smuggling routes that exploit Tripura’s proximity to international borders.
