Shillong, July 8: BSF troops have to don the swimming cap during the monsoon as "invisible smugglers" convey goods via the rising waters while the smugglers' counterparts in neighbouring Bangladesh await on the other side to receive them.

Two days ago, BSF troops at Baghmara in Meghalaya's South Garo Hills seized several bamboo sticks, wooden logs and around 11 tonnes of coal stacked in gunny sacks while these items were floating in the Simsang river to meet their purchasers in Bangladesh.

The troops seized 920 bamboo sticks, 616.25 cubic feet of wooden logs and 11 tonnes of coal worth approximately Rs 22 lakh.

"The smugglers had stacked the coal inside gunny sacks, which were tied in between the logs and the bamboo sticks. At a glance, one could only notice the bamboo sticks floating in the river," a BSF official said.

The official said swimmers among the BSF troops had to plunge into the river to get hold of the smuggled items.

"The task in getting the items out from the river is quite difficult, especially when the water level is rising because of the monsoon rain. The troops have to toil to take out tonnes of coal and wooden logs from the river," the official added.

Every monsoon, the "invisible smugglers" conspire with the rising water levels. "After the incessant rainfall in Meghalaya, the increased water level in the river has made smugglers to attempt their nefarious activities. But the determined BSF troops are keeping a regular vigil to foil any such attempt and have succeeded to make several seizures," the official said.

In another incident, troops at Jatrakona in South Garo Hills seized 530 bottles of Phensedyl being smuggled to Bangladesh. "Smugglers are using different techniques to smuggle the Phensedyl bottles. This is sold to drug addicts in Bangladesh at a huge price," the BSF official said.