Imphal: A joint team of central and state forces busted an inter-state drug smuggling network with the arrest of an alleged smuggler from Assam, along with the seizure of contraband drugs worth over Rs 18.6 crore in the international clandestine trade.
According to the Manipur Police morning bulletin issued on Thursday, a joint team of the Manipur Police, CRPF, and Assam Rifles arrested Ilaj Ali Laskar (29), a resident of Lalpani in Assam’s Cachar district. The team arrested him on Wednesday from the Chandrapur area under Jiribam Police Station in Manipur’s Jiribam district, which shares a western border with Assam. The accused was apprehended along with illegal items.
From his possession, the following were recovered and impounded:
(i) 1,60,000 psychotropic tablets—“World Is Yours” (WY) tablets (methamphetamine)—engraved with WY/R, weighing a total of 18.6 kg; and
(ii) a truck bearing Assam registration number AS-24 AC-3721, which the accused allegedly used to transport the contraband from Manipur to Assam.
WY/R, in the context of tablets, refers to an illicit contraband drug and not a legitimate pharmaceutical product. It is a brand or stamp name for a type of illegal tablet known as Yaba, which is a combination of methamphetamine (25–35 mg) and caffeine (45–65 mg). The drug is highly addictive, popular in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and Myanmar, and is often smuggled into parts of India, including Manipur. The tablets are small, round, reddish-orange or green in colour, and stamped with “WY” or “R”.
The seized items were confiscated following standard procedures, and the accused was subsequently handed over to Jiribam Police Station.
Police reports added that a case has been registered in this connection under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act, 2023, for further investigation.