Assam police seized yaba tablets worth Rs 24 crore and arrested two individuals in Sribhumi district, near the Mizoram border, on Sunday, intensifying the state’s crackdown on drug trafficking. Acting on a tip-off, authorities intercepted a truck from Mizoram’s Champhai district at Puwamara bypass, where a meticulous search uncovered 80,000 yaba tablets hidden in a secret compartment.

Superintendent of Police Partha Protim Das confirmed the arrests, identifying the suspects as residents of Cachar district in Assam’s Barak Valley. “Legal action has been initiated to trace the drug cartel’s forward and backward links,” Das told PTI, signaling a broader investigation into the network. A senior officer pegged the haul’s value at Rs 24 crore, aligning with Narcotics Control Bureau standards.

Yaba, a potent blend of methamphetamine and caffeine dubbed “crazy medicine” in Thai, is a growing menace in Northeast India, often smuggled from Myanmar via Mizoram. This bust follows a pattern of significant seizures in the region, including a Rs 88 crore methamphetamine haul in Imphal and Guwahati zones announced earlier today by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Assam’s strategic location makes it a trafficking hotspot, but relentless police efforts underscore a determined push to dismantle these illicit operations, protecting communities from the drug’s devastating grip.