Woman nabbed by BSF with Yaba tablets valued at Rs 28 lakh

Kolkata, May 3 (IANS) The Border Security Force (BSF) has nabbed an Indian woman with 5,620 Yaba tablets valued at Rs 28,10,000 near a petrol pump in Bongaon, North 24-Parganas, West Bengal.

This is being considered a major haul, given the fact that suspected terror outfits are involved in the smuggling of such synthetic drugs from Myanmar to Bangladesh, using routes in India.

Intelligence agencies suspect that the profits are being used to create facilities that would be used later for terror strikes on Indian soil.

Yaba, called the 'Madness Drug' and 'Nazi Speed', is extremely potent. A mixture of caffeine and methamphetamine, it has already made a mark as a party drug, both in India and Bangladesh.

Saiful Karim, known as the 'Yaba King' of Bangladesh apparently surrendered to authorities in the neighbouring country in 2019 and was killed in an encounter when accompanying the police in a drug raid soon thereafter.

Karim has certainly got a successor by now. Most of the Yaba tablets enter India from Myanmar through the country's border with the states of Mizoram and Manipur. These tablets initially used to make their way into Bangladesh through Assam and Tripura.

With a major crackdown on this racket by the BSF as well as the local police in these two states, Yaba tablets are now being transported to West Bengal for smuggling. Along the way, some are sold, particularly in cities like Kolkata and Siliguri and the remaining reaches the India-Bangladesh border.

"On Monday, troops of the 158 Bn BSF, posted at Border Outpost Gunarmath, received inputs about a woman who would be carrying Yaba tablets. She was to rendezvous with somebody at a petrol pump near Bata More in Bongaon. The company commander immediately formed a team along with a lady constable and left for Bata More. Around 2.30 pm, a woman approached the spot. She was identified as the smuggler and challenged. She made a run towards the petrol pump nearby but was chased and overpowered by the lady constable. The Yaba tablets were seized from her possession," a senior official of the BSF's South Bengal Frontier said.

During interrogation, the woman identified herself as Mili Mandal (24) of Bongaon. Mili, a widow, confessed that she had been working as a courier for smuggler Jahangir for the last three years. On Monday morning, the packet of drugs was apparently handed over to her by Jahangir, also a resident of Bongaon.

She was to hand it over to somebody at the petrol pump. Jahangir had allegedly promised to pay her Rs 15,000 for this job. She has been handed over to the Bongaon police station with the seized tablets.

"We have provided all details to to the local police. The BSF is not only committed to prevent crime along the International Boundary (IB) but the entire border area," said Harendra Singh Tomar, CO, 158 Bn BSF.

The IB is simply the place where the handover of smuggled items take place. The actual operation starts further inland as kingpins never get close to the border and maintain a clean image, often with local political support.

The BSF now has jurisdiction to operate further inland to strike at the brains behind such activities, despite resistance by state governments that have by themselves done little to crack down on such crime.

All this, despite being informed repeatedly that smuggling is related to terror outfits. Had action been taken, people like Jahangir would have been behind the bars by now, serving long sentences.