Superintendent of Police of Narcotics and Affairs of Border, W. Basu said, “This is the biggest ever drug bust in the history of Manipur and also the first time that a clandestine drug lab was busted”. (Representational Image) Superintendent of Police of Narcotics and Affairs of Border, W. Basu said, “This is the biggest ever drug bust in the history of Manipur and also the first time that a clandestine drug lab was busted”. (Representational Image)

In Manipur’s biggest ever drug haul, a combined team of Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) police and Thoubal police Saturday busted a heroine (brown sugar) manufacturing lab and recovered huge quantity of drugs worth about Rs 100 crore in the international market.

SP of NAB, W. Basu said, “This is the biggest ever drug bust in the history of Manipur and also the first time that a clandestine drug lab was busted”.

The SP informed acting on intelligence alert, the combined team led by NAB Additional SP Th. Brinda, officer-in-charge NAB, CB Rishikesh Sharma and Thoubal police Addl SP S. Sachidananda under the supervision of the SP himself was able to bust the clandestine brown sugar laboratory at the residence of 40-year-old Mohammad Matalip.

The SP also informed that in its effort to nab the accused, the police got assistance from a group named Anjuman Ishla-e Muashra which works for social welfare in the state.

The combined team recovered 111.915 kgs. of heroine from the site and has been seized by the NAB, he added.

The narcotic police also arrested three persons including Matalip from the site in connection with the case. The other two persons are identified as Matalip’s wife Samim Pusam, and Md. Serajuddin Mohammad.

Apart from the processed drugs, several chemicals, equipment, and tools used in the manufacturing of the drugs have also been recovered from the laboratory.

Lime, vice, iron plates, pots, plastic bin, rubber hand gloves, LPG gas cylinder, white clothes, and items of clothing were among other articles recovered directly from the manufacturing site.

As Manipur shares its border with Myanmar, it is used as a transit for smuggling drugs, arms, human trafficking and security forces seize different forms of drugs worth crores of rupees every year.

As per the date of NAB, the narcotic police till June this year have seized over 2 kg of Heroine, 20 Kg of Ganja, 18.25 kg of Opium, over 10 kg of WY Tablets (synthetic drugs) and destroyed over 934 acres of Poppy cultivation. Moreover, the NAB also arrested as many as 56 drug traffickers.

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