Assam Police Seize Huge Consignment Of Banned Cough Syrup, Activist Says ‘Need More Such Ops’

Assam STF sleuths carried out an operation to intercept a vehicle carrying as many as 375 boxes, containing a total of 37,500 bottles of phensedyl, hidden under poultry feed.

STF sleuths with the accused and the seized consignment of Phensedyl. ( Image Source :Facebook/himantabiswasarma )

Guwahati: The Special Task Force (STF) of Assam police has seized a huge consignment of phensedyl, a banned cough syrup, from the Lumshnong area of Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district. Acting on a tip-off about a possible smuggling bid of narcotic drugs to Tripura’s state capital Agartala through Assam, the STF sleuths swiftly carried out an operation to intercept the vehicle carrying the contraband item. The team of STF chased the vehicle, bearing registration number RJ11-GB-0508, from Guwahati and finally intercepted it at the Lumshnong area of neighbouring Meghalaya.  

During a search of the vehicle, the team of STF recovered as many as 375 boxes, containing a total of 37,500 bottles of phensedyl, hidden under poultry feed. The STF team soon arrested the driver and seized the consignment of phensedyl and the vehicle carrying the narcotic substance.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while praising the efforts of the STF in seizing the narcotic substance wrote on Facebook, “Based on reliable inputs, STF Assam carried out an anti-narcotics operation to nab an inter-state drug movement and intercepted a vehicle registered in a different state after a chase in EJH district, Meghalaya with assistance from local police. 37,500 bottles of phensedyl packed in 375 boxes were found in the vehicle and the driver has been apprehended. Kudos Assam police! Assam against drugs.”

Despite the current Assam government declared a “war against drugs” after it came to power in May 2021, frequent seizure of huge quantities of narcotic drugs including heroin, brown sugar, addictive tablets like methamphetamine, phensedyl among others from various parts of Assam, reveals that drug trafficking is going on unabated across the state.

Speaking with ABP Live on the recent seizure of the consignment of phensedyl, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) professional, Ratul Dey said, “Congratulations to Assam police for the huge nab. But we need more such operations as drugs now are everywhere destroying a generation in the form of heroin, brown sugar, addictive tablets, yaba, marijuana, cocaine and cough syrups which contain codeine. It is not the drugs which are killing us but it is our attitude towards drugs that matters the most.”

"How do we see drugs, have we been taught about it, no," Dey questioned.

Dey further said, "As a drug de-addiction activist, I must request all the parents and the teachers to talk about the effects, its consequences and everything on the consumption of drugs. The supply part is taken care of by the cops no doubt, but we must have the resistance inside us not to try it."

The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.

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