Daijiworld Media Network - Agartala
Agartala, Oct 13: In a significant crackdown on narcotics smuggling, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have jointly seized methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 16 crore and arrested a woman in a late-night operation near the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.
According to officials, the operation took place on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday in the Boxanagar area of Sepahijala district. Acting on specific intelligence, the BSF and NCB raided the residence of 33-year-old Lipiyara Khatun in Madhya Boxanagar and discovered 16 kilograms—around 1.6 lakh pills—of methamphetamine, commonly known as Yaba tablets.
The contraband was concealed in 16 brown-taped packets, buried beneath the kitchen floor of the house. The suspect, Lipiyara Khatun, was taken into custody on the spot and later handed over to NCB Agartala for further interrogation and legal proceedings.
Officials believe the seizure is part of a larger network of cross-border drug smuggling. “This successful joint operation is another example of the BSF’s unwavering commitment to combat drug trafficking along the Indo-Bangladesh border,” the BSF said in a statement.
The bust comes just days after another massive drug seizure in the state. On October 6, the Assam Rifles, in coordination with Customs officials, intercepted two trucks carrying cement as a cover for narcotics. That operation led to the recovery of 69.61 kg of meth tablets worth an estimated Rs 70 crore and the arrest of four traffickers.
According to defence sources, the October 6 operation was a follow-up to an earlier bust on September 29 in Mohanpur, West Tripura, where authorities had recovered 60.77 kg of meth tablets valued at Rs 60 crore.
Investigators suspect that the methamphetamine in all three seizures was smuggled from Myanmar, routed through Mizoram and southern Assam, and brought into Tripura with the intention of trafficking it into Bangladesh. The porous and often unmanned stretches of Tripura’s 856-kilometre international border with Bangladesh make the state a key transit hub in the regional drug trade.
Security forces have intensified surveillance in the region amid rising concerns over drug trafficking networks using Tripura as a conduit. With drug hauls worth over Rs 140 crore seized in less than a month, authorities are on high alert to dismantle the smuggling routes and prevent further infiltration of narcotics into and through the state.