Representative image

A huge amount  of methamphetamine tablets worth Rs 19 crore destined for Bangladesh via Meghalaya has been seized from a hideout on the Meghalaya-Assam border, customs officials said on Thursday.

Officials arrested Letminlun Khongsai (27), the international drug kingpin, and his driver Sailesh Singh from Killing village in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district on Wednesday.

Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!

Khongsai, who has been on the radar of security agencies and customs, is from Manipur’s Moreh village on the India-Myanmar border.

Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) Isaac Kharkongor said Khongsai was arrested after receiving input that a huge consignment of Metamphetamine tablets weighing 19.7 kg meant for Khongsai was dispatched from Manipur’s capital Imphal in a white Scorpio on Tuesday.

The arrested persons have been booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!

“Meghalaya being a peaceful state has become a safe haven for international drug syndicates who are using it as a transit route from Myanmar to Bangladesh,” Kharkongor said.

Meghalaya shares a 443-km border with Bangladesh, part of which is porous, hilly and unfenced and thus prone to infiltration.