Cachar police raids a hotel in Silchar, seizes 2000 YABA tablets, detains 3 Mizos including Retd Army Official

Based on a secret tip-off, a team of Cachar Police led by DSP Kalyan Kumar Das along with OC Sonai, Manoj Rajbongshi, OC Silchar Ditumoni Goswami, raided a hotel in Hailakandi road Silchar. Located by the main road, The New City Lodge is housed in a commercial building that has banking and finance offices too.

The Police officials raided room number 11 of the lodge and detained three individuals, all residents of Mizoram. After searching the room, they seized 2000 YABA/WY tablets. According to Police sources, they were expecting a huge consignment of YABA tablets to be brought to the hotel. The handlers might have got to know about the raid and thus diverted their path is what the cops are suspecting.

The three individuals detained have been identified as Lal Robula (male), Sytimpari (female), and Bannal Joni (female). “The male detainee has identified himself as a retired Indian Army Official. According to his statement, he took voluntary retirement from service in 2015 and has been working at a private security firm since then,” informed DSP Kalyan Kumar Das.

He added, “The Police is investigating the matter. What we can confirm at this stage is that 2000 YABA tablets have been seized and three Mizo residents have been detained. We had an undercover team in the hotel and we have collected the intel from them before going ahead with the raid. Where the consignment was headed to and if there is a racket involved… these things we will only be able to ascertain after thorough investigation.”

The Police called for a sniffer dog to check if there are more narcotics hidden in various parts of the hotel. Sources close to the development informed that the Police has detained the manager of the Lodge as proper records were not maintained.

According to a Times of India report, the cost of 1000 YABA tablets is estimated to be around Rs 10 lakh, and going by it, the market value of the seized consignment would be around Rs 20 lakh. However, the price depends on the market the tablets are smuggled to. In the Northeast, Yaba or WY tablets are popular in Meghalaya among the mineworkers.

Tablets containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are often illegally transported from places like Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to Manipur and then smuggled to Myanmar. There the tablets are processed in illegal drug factories and the two components are mixed to create WY (What’s Yours)/ YABA drug. Peddlers and dealers in Myanmar then smuggle it back to India and other parts of Southeast Asia.

WY is a party drug and popular among party-goers and night-life enthusiasts, it is also consumed by mine workers as that helps them work for longer hours.