Bongaigaon: Rs 20 lakhs of Burmese areca nuts is seized at the New Bongaigaon Railway Station in Assam by the Railway Police of the Government. The sources said the railway police team has seized suspected items in the inputs of packaged bags.
The number of bags being seized is reported to be 90 bags from the Rajdhani Express
It is worth mentioning that the nuts from Myanmar are banned in India. It is reported to be smuggled often through different modes. The Railway Police of the Central Government has conducted an important operation to seize such illegal smuggling of screa nuts through different sources, in the New Bongaigaon junction of Railway Station district. Thus there is a seizure of a substantial quantity of suspected Burmese supari(betel nut).
Authorities are now focusing on enhancing surveillance and security measures at railway junctions to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The seizure of such smuggling is expected to coming from Burma. The adequate actions of Government Railway Police has underscored the commitment from curbing such illegal activities. To identify the individuals responsible for such illicit trade the investigations is further on the way. It is also to determine the exact origin and intended destination of the contraband
These smuggled Myanmar-origin areca nuts, popularly called Burmese supari here, cost about Rs 700 to 800 per kg in the Indian markets.They are smuggled through the porous India-Myanmar border in Mizoram and the traders often manage to evade customs duties by producing fake documents.
They take advantage of the similarity between the areca nuts of Myanmar and those produced locally, particularly in Mizoram and Assam.
Additional director of agriculture Dipul Das told TOI, “There is no scientific method or technology to distinguish an Assam supari from a Burmese one in the state or in the country.
The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) at Kahikuchi in Rani under Kamrup (Metro) has also said it does not have any technology to ascertain the differences between the two types of nuts. Even CPCRI-Kerala where we send the samples fail to differentiate between the two.”
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