Shillong, March 1: Troops of 43rd Battalion of the BSF in a joint operation with Meghalaya Police, held two persons with 1125 Yaba tablets and 98 bottles of Phensedyl from bordering village Malikona under Baghmara police station in South Garo Hills district. Both the apprehended persons are residents of Goalpara district in Assam.
The apprehended persons along with seized items were handed over to Bhagmara police station for further action.
The smuggling of this banned cough syrup and Yaba tablets from Myanmar to other Southeast Asian countries remains a challenge for the Border Security Force (BSF). Yaba, a drug in the tablet form, is a combination of caffeine and methamphetamine. Phensedyl, a codeine-based cough syrup is used as a substitute for liquor, which is strictly prohibited in the neighbouring country.
The BSF said that, when Government authorities of major producer countries of Yaba like Thailand and Myanmar get stricter on the smuggling, the smugglers take the routes through the Northeastern States like Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to get their consignment crossed to Bangladesh.