Assam: Party drugs, heroin worth Rs 115 crore seized in Karimganj
Guwahati: The Assam police on Friday (August 9) apprehended four alleged drug traffickers, and seized narcotic drugs valued at Rs 115 crore in the grey market, in the state’s Karimganj district.
Sleuths of Assam Police’s Special Task Force (STF) along with the Karimganj police, while carrying out a joint operation intercepted a 12-wheeler truck, bearing registration number NL01-AC-4764, at the Karimganj bypass in Puwamara under the jurisdiction of the Karimganj Police Station, at around 3.30 pm, Assam Police CPRO Pranabjyoti Goswami said in a press statement.
During a thorough search of the truck, the joint team recovered a total of 3.50 lakh Yaba tablets and 1.3 kilograms of heroin packed in 100 plastic soap cases, from secret chambers of the goods carrier. Four persons were apprehended for alleged trafficking of the huge consignment of narcotic drugs, it informed.
The apprehended individuals have been identified as Noimul Haque - the main owner, Fuzail Ahmed, Atiqur Rahman alias Atik - the driver of the truck, and Jagajit Deb Barma alias Barman – the co-driver of the truck. Habib, the owner of the seized truck and son of Noimul Haque, is already lodged in jail, it added.
Yaba is a combination of methamphetamine, a powerful and addictive stimulant, and caffeine. Yaba, which means crazy medicine in Thai, is produced in Southeast and East Asia. The drug is mostly used by the Asian communities and increasingly gaining popularity in India and available at raves and techno parties.
Yaba tablets are generally consumed orally, and sometimes used by another method known as chasing, where the users place the Yaba tablet on aluminum foil and heat it from below. As the tablet melts, vapors rise and are inhaled. It is also administered by crushing the tablets into powder, which is then snorted or mixed with a solvent and injected.
People who use Yaba tablets face certain risk factors including rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure and damage to the small blood vessels in the brain that can lead to stroke. Chronic use of Yaba can result in inflammation of the heart lining and overdoses may cause hyperthermia (elevated body temperature), convulsions and even death.
The users may also show violent behaviour, paranoia, anxiety, confusion and insomnia. Those who inject Yaba may also contract Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C, and other blood-borne viruses.