GUWAHATI: Heroin worth Rs 12 crore in international market was seized in Assam’s Kamrup district in the early hours of Sunday. Three persons were arrested in this connection, police said. It is the second case of a big drug haul in the district in a week.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team from Kamrup district, led by additional SP Kalyan Pathak, intercepted a vehicle on NH-17 at Palashbari and recovered around 700 grams of heroin kept in hidden chambers built inside the vehicle.
The arrested persons have been identified as Abdul Hai, Mohidul Islam and Rofikul Islam.
Partha Sarathi Mahanta, DIG of Assam Police STF, said the consignment was being trafficked from Guwahati to Dhubri. “The traffickers are being interrogated to unearth further links and to find out from where they had procured the consignment,” he added.
On June 25, police caught two persons from Manipur with heroin worth Rs 18 crore near Poa Mecca at Hajo in the district after chasing them for several kilometres. They were identified as Abdul Hasan and Mustaq Ali.
Police said there are two main routes of drug smuggling through Assam that lead to outside the state. One is from Manipur to Guwahati via Dimapur in Nagaland, while the second one is from Manipur to Guwahati via Meghalaya.
The DIG said the war against drugs in the state for the last two years has resulted in a decline in drugs smuggling. “Assam Police has been working relentlessly to stop this menace,” he said.