Agartala/Aizawl, Feb 4 The Assam Rifles and other security forces in different places have destroyed a marijuana (ganja) plantation area, seized drugs valued at Rs 3.50 crore and also busted an inter-state drug peddling gang in Tripura and Mizoram, an official said on Tuesday.
A total of 11 drug peddlers were arrested.
A Defence spokesman said that, in a major crackdown on illegal narcotics' cultivation, Assam Rifles, in the late evening hours of Monday, destroyed approximately 75,000 plants of marijuana valued at around Rs 2.90 crore at Bijoynagar in Tripura's Sepahijala district, which shares a border with Bangladesh.
The operation, conducted in close coordination with representatives from Customs Preventive Force and Tripura Police, dealt a significant blow to the illicit drug trade in the region.
The destroyed marijuana plantation was spread across 100 acres at two different sites.
The official said that the concerted action underscores the commitment of the security forces to curb the menace of drug trafficking and ensure a drug-free society.
Assam Rifles remains vigilant in its efforts to combat narcotics cultivation and trafficking and protect the people of the region from the adverse effects of illegal drug trade, the Defence spokesperson said.
In another development, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) in a joint operation busted a drugs peddling gang and arrested nine drug peddlers, residents of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tripura.
The GRP and the RPF personnel jointly arrested the nine persons from the Agartala railway station on Monday night and recovered 15,000 cough syrup bottles, valued at Rs 25 lakh.
A GRP official said there are other drug peddlers with the gang and they are looking for them.
The detainees confessed that they brought similar cough syrups from outside Tripura previously as well and smuggled them to neighbouring Bangladesh, where various cough syrup including Eskuf and Phensedyl are being used as 'drugs' by the youth.
In the third incident, Assam Rifles recovered 50 grams of heroin valued at Rs 35 lakh and apprehended one Tingngaihkhawmi (40), a resident of Ngur village in Mizoram’s Champhai district, which shares an unfenced border with Myanmar.
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