Over 1,300 tablets of banned 'madness drug' seized in Bengal, one arrested

Kolkata : The Kolkata unit of Narcotics Control Bureau on Thursday seized more than 1,300 Yaba tablets, also known as madness drug, from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district and arrested an suspect, an NCB official said.

The drug containing methamphetamine and caffeine was initially seized by a team of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel from a house in North 24 Parganas district's Hakimpur which was later handed over to the NCB team.

"1370 tablets of Yaba were seized from the house of Kamaluddin Khan of Hakimpur village on Thursday. The cost of the seized drug is about Rs 7 lakh in the international illegal market," said Dilip Kumar Srivastava, zonal director of NCB's Kolkata unit.

According to the official, the drug was sourced from Myanmar via Manipur and was destined to Bangladesh.

"The accused and the seized contraband will be reproduced in court on Friday. The NCB will ask for his remand for a further probe," he said.

The Bangladesh government has last month approved a draft law prescribing the death penalty for producing, smuggling, distributing and using more than 5 grams of yaba.