IMPHAL, Aug 29 � Soldiers of 31 Assam Rifles based on a tip-off recovered a huge cache of narcotic drugs from two persons in Manipur�s border town Moreh on Friday.
�The recovered drugs is about 300 kg of Pseudo-ephedrine tablets valued around Rs 5 crore in the open market�, PRO Assam Rifles (South) Major Saunat Kamat said. �We have recovered around 700 kg of Pseudo-ephedrine-based drugs besides about 500 kgs of Tiger bones and Pangol shells in the current year.�
Two drug peddlers � Jacob of Moreh and a Myanmarese Jothan Mawia alias Moya of Tamu township who were arrested from a house in Moreh along with the recovered items have been handed over to Manipur Police Narcotics cell.
Last year, Assam Rifles deployed in the Manipur sector of the Indo-Myanmar International border, has recovered 1132 kgs of Pangolin shells, 15 kgs of Tiger bones and 19 kgs of Leopard bones.
The frequent seizure of the wildlife products in Manipur indicates that the Indo-Myanmar route appears to have become one of the main transit points for smuggling wildlife products to China and South Asia.
A senior Forest official said, most of these wildlife products were used for manufacturing medicine in China. The wildlife products were mostly transported from places such as Rajasthan, Orissa and Andhra Pradhesh. Pangolin shell costs Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per kg at Moreh town.