Silchar, May 30: A large consignment of Phensedyl Cough Linctus, a codeine-laced cough syrup that also causes intoxication, was seized by police at Nilambazar town in Barak Valley’s Karimganj district late last night.

The haul lends credence to reports of unabated smuggling of this contraband drug to Bangladesh along the international boundary line in Karimganj and North Tripura districts.

According to Karimganj police, a total of 512 cartons of Phensedyl Linctus with a street value of Rs 23 lakh which were being sent to Bangladesh through North Tripura district’s Dharmanagar town, were confiscated.

Sources said each carton had 50 bottles and each bottle contains 100ml of the drug.

The police said cross-country smuggling cartels have of late been using a new ploy of stuffing this contraband in rice or wheat sacks to hoodwink police and land customs.

The police said sleuths acting on specific information kept vigil on trucks plying on National Highway 6 linking Karimganj district with Tripura for the past few days. Late last night, they zeroed in on a truck in Nilambazar which was being loaded with wheat sacks.

During a search ordered by the officer-in-charge of Nilambazar police station, Ramdulal Goala, it was found that the below each sack of wheat were neatly stacked cartons of Phensedyl.

The police have arrested the driver of the truck and its cleaner.