In a major crackdown on an international drug cartel, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized heroin worth ₹12.5 crore in Assam that was being smuggled into India through riverine routes from Myanmar. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the operation, a senior NCB official said on Tuesday. The NCB’s Guwahati Zonal Unit, acting on specific intelligence and conducting prolonged surveillance, launched a joint operation with the CRPF and Assam Police. The agencies traced an illicit consignment that was being transported through dense forest routes in Manipur and ferried along the Barak river by small motorboats to evade conventional security checks.
NCB teams intercepted an indigenous motorboat on the Barak river near Silchar and apprehended two suspects, both residents of Cachar district. A detailed search of the machine-operated country boat led to the recovery of 6.149 kg of high-grade heroin, packed inside 530 soap cases and concealed beneath bamboo layers. “The seized narcotics are valued at approximately ₹12.5 crore in the illicit market,” the official said.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the heroin consignment originated in Myanmar, moved through forest corridors in Manipur, and was destined for the Hmarkhawlien–Fulertal–Lakhimpur belt in Assam.
According to the NCB, traffickers increasingly rely on riverine systems to bypass checkpoints, security camps and urban surveillance. “This operation shows a growing trafficking strategy that exploits vulnerable river routes for cross-border drug movement,” the official said. The official added that the operation has significantly disrupted a major narcotics network operating across Myanmar, Manipur and Assam.
The NCB’s North Eastern Region has intensified coordination with Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, State police, and Central Armed Police Forces/Border Guarding Forces to strengthen the anti-narcotics ecosystem. State-level Joint Coordination Committee meetings for Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Tripura are also being held regularly to curb cross-border drug smuggling, the senior official said.