GUWAHATI, July 1: In a major crackdown on drug trafficking in the Northeast, security forces have seized narcotics worth an estimated Rs 9.5 crore from Assam’s Cachar district. Officials said the heroin and Yaba tablets were allegedly concealed inside jars packed with red chillies in an attempt to evade detection during transportation.

The operation was carried out jointly by the Assam Rifles’ Srikona Battalion and Cachar Police following specific intelligence inputs on the movement of narcotics. Acting on the information, the team conducted a raid near Tollengram in Cachar.

Officials recovered 30,000 Yaba tablets and 535 grams of heroin No. 4 during the operation. Two women from Tollen village in Manipur’s Tamenglong district were apprehended at the spot and later handed over to Cachar Police for further investigation.

“We received a tip-off about the transportation of Yaba tablets. Based on the intelligence, a joint operation was launched, leading to the successful seizure of the contraband,” a source associated with the operation said.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the contraband had been ingeniously hidden inside jars filled with red chillies to hoodwink law enforcement agencies.

The seizure comes close on the heels of similar anti-smuggling operations in the region. Just a day earlier, security forces had recovered Yaba tablets and heroin worth around Rs 5 crore in Cachar, while a separate operation led to the seizure of illegal foreign cigarettes valued at approximately Rs 2.8 crore.