Problem pills

Aug. 9: Police today claimed to have zeroed in on an inter-state drug cartel with the arrest of Farid Ali, 46, at Sadilapur under Jalukbari police outpost.

The police seized 14,400 Spasmoproxyvon tablets from him.

A police source said CRPF personnel spotted Ali, carrying the consignment, during a routine check on a bus at a checkpost in Sadilapur on the outskirts of the city this morning.

The accused, a resident of Manipur, had boarded the bus at Siliguri in West Bengal.

Spasmoproxyvon tablets containing Dextropropoxyphene, a narcotic drug, are widely abused by addicts of the Northeast looking for an instant high.

“He was taking the tablets to Imphal via Guwahati,” the source said.

On the basis of an FIR lodged by the CRPF, Ali was arrested and a case registered against him under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Ali is likely to be produced in court tomorrow.

The source said during preliminary investigation, the accused told the police that he used to bring strips of Spasmoproxyvon tablets to sell the drug at an exorbitant price.

“The arrest is only the tip of an iceberg. We have clues that suggest the involvement of a well-organised racket in smuggling drugs to different parts of the region.”

He, however, refused to divulge details as an investigation is on to track down other members of the cartel.

“We will seek help from West Bengal police to find the suppliers and contact our counterparts in Siliguri to verify the statements of the accused. We have to ascertain whether smuggling takes place at retail level or wholesale level,” he said.

City police are also likely to take help from the CID to bust the syndicate.

More arrests are likely to take place.

A strip of eight tablets that costs around Rs 11 in the market, is illegally sold to the addicts by drug pedlars at an exorbitant cost of Rs 70 to 80 per strip.

These drugs are sold to them at prices three to four times of the maximum retail price of each.

“Though consumption of high-value drugs is not much prevalent, there is rampant abuse of synthetic drugs like Spasmoproxyvon in the region,” the source said.