Heroin worth Rs 5 crore seized in Assam, 3 held

Tinsukia (Assam), Aug 28 (PTI) Three persons were arrested from Assam’s Tinsukia district after heroin worth Rs 5 crore was seized from their possession, police said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the Special Task Force and the district police intercepted a vehicle with the three on board at Gondhuiguri Tiniali in Kakopathar area on Sunday night and seized 700 grams of narcotics substance along with Rs 13,950 in cash and five mobile phones from them, a police officer said.

He said the seized items were recovered from 57 soap boxes, hidden in two secret chambers of the vehicle.

All three persons hail from Karimganj district, he said.

Tinsukia Additional Superintendent of Police Maidul Islam said that the town has become a transit point for drug trafficking, and the entire district has been identified as “an HIV hotspot” due to syringe drug use.

The police are trying to find out the modus operandi of the racket, he added.