In a major anti-smuggling operation along the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur, a joint team of Assam Rifles and Manipur Police seized a large consignment of contraband tobacco items worth around Rs. 8.66 lakh in regional market value, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the Manipur Police morning bulletin, the operation was launched based on credible intelligence inputs. The joint team recovered 29 cartons containing 14,440 packets of WIN cigarettes of Myanmar origin from the forest area of Loisi under Tengnoupal Police Station in Tengnoupal district, which shares its southern boundary with Myanmar.
The seized items, valued at Rs. 8,66,400, were later handed over to the concerned authorities for further investigation, police added.
The seizure comes just two days after the Government of Manipur enforced a statewide ban on the manufacture, storage, distribution, and sale of tobacco products, including gutkha, pan masala, and other chewing tobacco items containing tobacco or nicotine, for one year.
The ban, issued under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011, and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, aims to curb the widespread use and illegal trade of tobacco products across the state.