Kohima: In one of the biggest hauls in Nagaland, the police have seized smuggled gold and narcotic substances worth around Rs 25 crore. In three separate joint operations, Nagaland police, Assam Rifles and BSF from various parts of Kohima seized 48 kilograms of smuggled gold, 1.48 kilograms of heroin and 1 kilogram of opium. Police arrested nine people in this connection, a senior police officer said on Tuesday (October 4).
CID and the narcotics cell, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sandeep Tamgadge, told the media that the seizures and arrests were made from different locations of the Kohima district in the last 48 hours.
Special teams of the Nagaland Police narcotic cell intercepted a vehicle on the Kohima-Imphal National Highway on Sunday in the state border, which resulted in the recovery of over 48 kg smuggled gold, estimated to be valued at Rs 22.78 crore.
The gold bars, reportedly hidden inside the cover of the gear lever of the vehicle, were packed neatly in 29 packets, he said.
The smuggled gold and the SUV carrying the yellow metal have been seized while two persons, identified as Saurabh Singh and Pawan Kumar, both residents of Uttar Pradesh, have been detained for further questioning.
Initial investigations showed that the gold was smuggled from Manipur and was in transit, and the process may involve multiple state rackets, he said.
Asked about the destination of the smuggled bars, Tamgadge said that initial investigation suggests that the packets were bound for Agra.
According to the ADGP, seven persons were arrested from the same spot in three separate actions on October 2-4, and recovered 1.84 kg of banned substances packed in 88 soap cases and one kg of opium packed in 12 packets. The value of the drugs is around Rs 6.50 crore.
Sources of Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF) informed that the drugs, especially the highly addictive methamphetamine, contain a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine and various other contraband, and arms and ammunition were often smuggled from Myanmar, which shares 1,643 km of unfenced border with four Northeast states–Mizoram (510 km), Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km) and Nagaland (215 km).
