A huge cache of Burmese areca nuts worth crores was found in Mizoram in a joint operation, officials informed on Tuesday.
As per initial reports, the joint operation was carried out by personnel of the Assam Rifles along with the border customs department at Melbuk crossing in Mizoram along the India – Myanmar international borders.
Officials informed that as many as 780 sacks of Burmese areca nuts were found and seized during the operation. The huge cache had been smuggled in and was stored in Mizoram and was meant to be transported further inwards, said officials.
Moreover, the entire seizure was estimated by officials to be worth around Rs 3.51 crores. Officials also mentioned that the huge stash of areca nuts was stored in the Melbuk village in Mizoram’s Champhai district.
Meanwhile, no arrests in connection with the seizure has been made as of yet and an investigation into the incident has been initiated.
In December last year, Assam Police foiled a smuggling attempt and seized 2000 kilograms of Burmese areca nuts concealed inside an oil tanker in the Cachar district, which was illegally transported from Mizoram. The Cachar district Police also arrested a person in connection to the seizure.
According to police, during Naka-checking, the Officer-in-Charge of Dholai police station in Cachar district and staff intercepted an oil tanker that was coming from Mizoram side.
A senior police official said, "During the search, the police team recovered about 2000 kg of Burmese Supari concealed inside of the oil tanker."
Earlier on December 10, Cachar district police seized 38 bags of Burmese areca nuts from a truck and arrested one person.
In November 2022, Guwahati Police apprehended a most wanted supari mafia from a hotel in Beltola area. The accused, identified as Jasbir Singh Satowal, was nabbed from hotel Tokyo Tower.
A resident of Nagpur, Singh was accused of illegally smuggling areca nuts from Burma and selling it in the international market, police said.
Police further informed that there many others are involved in the nexus and efforts were on to identify each one of them.
