Guwahati: Assam Rifles and the Mizoram customs department seized 39,04,000 triprolidine and pseudoephedrine tablets, worth an estimated Rs. 390.04 crore, from Ruantlang area in Mizoram’s Champhai district Wednesday.
While one person has already been arrested, sources in the security establishment said he was not the main dealer. He was produced in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Champhai Thursday and sent to 15 days judicial custody, customs officials told ThePrint.
The 640 kg seizure highlights the growing trafficking of pseudoephedrine from India to Myanmar. It also raises questions about the “weak internal control” on production and distribution of pseudoephedrine in India.
Pseudoephedrine and triprolidine, common over-the-counter medicines used as decongestants, have proven to be precursors in the manufacturing of crystal meth, or crystal methamphetamine, a far more potent and addictive drug.
Security agencies conducting anti-smuggling operations in the Northeast said precursors worth over Rs 9.91 crore have been seized in Mizoram in the past few months. This is excluding the worth of the drugs seized Wednesday.
Inputs from investigating agencies suggest Wednesday’s consignment was being sent to Myanmar from Aizawl for preparation of methamphetamine tablets. The finished product was likely to be smuggled into India or another neighbouring country, sources said.
“Investigation is on, and we are trying to get hold of the main accused. Some part of the consignment has already gone into Myanmar,” added a customs official.
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Myanmar ‘hub’ of meth manufacturing
On 15 January, Assam Rifles recovered 98,000 triprolidine and pseudoephedrine tablets worth Rs 9.80 crore from Aizawl’s Thuampui area and apprehended two people. Another consignment of 1,98,000 pseudoephedrine tablets worth Rs 11.88 lakh had been seized from Aizawl on 13 November last year, and four people held, sources in the security establishment told ThePrint.
According to information available on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website, the bulk of meth manufacturing in East Asia and the Pacific happens in Myanmar’s Shan State and takes place in small, mobile facilities located in border areas near China and Thailand. The ongoing political instability in Myanmar is believed to have provided cover for large-scale drug manufacturing.
Methamphetamine can be produced wherever precursor chemicals are available.
Interestingly, Myanmar has no domestic pharmaceutical industry, according to the UNODC. So, the domestic production of methamphetamine is completely reliant on the acquisition of trafficked precursors and licit pharmaceutical preparations that come from neighbouring countries including India, China and Thailand.
In September 2015, the Indian Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had arrested six people, including the owners of three pharmaceutical companies, for procuring and supply of party drugs. Pseudoephedrine amounting 350kgs had been seized as part of the investigation. Those arrested included the owners of Veishorm Pharmaceuticals in East Delhi, Daffohils Pharma in Dehradun and GT Pharma in Baddi, according to media reports.
A month before, in August last year, DRI officials had busted a factory operating in Haryana’s Yamunanagar area, allegedly involved in the illicit manufacture of ephedrine, used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The operation led to seizure of 661kg of ephedrine and 5,200 kg of raw materials, reportedly valued at Rs 133 crore in the international market.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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