SHILLONG: Customs sleuths have seized massive 19.7 kgs of Metamphetamine tablets from Ri Bhoi district besides arresting two persons including a drug peddler.
Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Isaac Kharkongor on Thursday informed that the estimated value of the seized drugs was more than Rs 19 crore.
The customs deportment had received an intelligence input about the regular visit of international drug kingpin from Manipur to Guwahati and specific information was received about his movement from Imphal to Guwahati by a flight
Once the international drug kingpin, Letminlun Khongsai of Manipur reached Guwahati airport, official identified his hideout at Kiling village in Ri Bhoi district.
According to Kharkongor, information was also received that huge consignment of Metamphetamine tablets meant for the drug kingpin has been dispatched from Imphal in a Scorpio and it was meant to be delivered in his hideout at Killing.
On Wednesday evening, the vehicle was intercepted and the kingpin along with the driver of the vehicle, Sailesh Singh was picked up
The tablets were concealed inside the spare tyre and in the rear wall of the vehicle and the likely destination of the drugs was Bangladesh through the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The driver and the owner of the vehicle have been arrested and a case has been registered under the NDPS Act.
Kharkongor asserted that Meghalaya being a peaceful state has become a safe haven for international drug syndicates who are using it as a transit route from Myanmar to Bangladesh
He also informed that the interrogation of the arrested persons has revealed some new leads about involvement of other persons and investigation is on to nab them.
Kharkongor maintains that contraband drugs worth Rs 15-16 crore is seized by the Customs Department annually in the North East Region
Pointing out that different government agencies are on the job in Manipur and all the other North East states, he however said that the Myanmar border is porous and an easy access for those involved in the drug cartel.