In a major crackdown on cross-border narcotics trafficking along the Myanmar–Assam–Manipur route, authorities seized 6.15 kg of suspected heroin from Garmaghat in Hmarkhawlien, Lakhipur area of Cachar district. The operation was carried out jointly by the 147th Battalion of CRPF and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Acting on a specific tip-off, the teams intercepted a boat on the Barak River and recovered the contraband hidden inside 530 soap cases. Two suspected drug suppliers — Jacob Hmar and Akuu Melody Hmar, both residents of Lakhipur — arrested. Lakhipur Police are currently interrogating the duo.
NCB sources revealed that this arrest is part of a larger operation targeting an international drug trafficking network operating across the Myanmar–Manipur–Assam corridor. Traffickers allegedly used riverine routes and dense forest tracks in Manipur to bypass urban surveillance before ferrying the consignment via small motorboats on the Barak River.
Officers had been monitoring the movement of the illicit cargo for an extended period. On December 1, NCB sleuths intercepted an indigenous motorboat near Lakhipur and arrested the accused.
During the search, officials recovered 6.149 kg of high-grade heroin, neatly concealed beneath bamboo layers and packed inside soap cases. The seized consignment estimated to be worth ₹12.5 crore in the illegal market.
The joint operation received crucial support from Cachar Police and exposed what officials describe as an emerging trafficking method that exploits river routes to evade security checkpoints.
So far in 2025, the NCB has registered 14 NDPS cases in Assam, leading to 31 arrests. Over 88 kg of methamphetamine and 17 kg of heroin, valued at ₹105 crore, have seized this year.
