Pan-masala addiction leads to supari smuggling in Assam

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam police feel that the rising addiction to pan-masala (gutkha) is a precursor to the increasing supari (betel nut) smuggling from Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand etc. The rising demand for pan-masala makes the matching supply of supari essential. Thus supari smugglers have got a lucrative market.

According to police sources, smuggled supari is qualitatively better than local products. It is not all. The smugglers can sell smuggled supari at cheater rates as they dodge customs or import duties. Had they brought supari from Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand etc., legally, they would have charged 300 times more than what they charge now.

The smuggling network has its tentacles in Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Assam. Though security forces seize smuggled supari leading to the arrest of people involved frequently, the kingpins continue to give them the slip. The frequent seizure of smuggled supari in Assam proves beyond doubt that the masters of the racket are active and at large. According to police sources, smuggled supari from Myanmar enters Manipur and Mizoram and then comes to Meghalaya to go to the rest of India through Assam. Besides big trucks, the smugglers use small vehicles, including private four-wheeler cars. The small vehicles take to rural roads instead of the main roads to give security personnel the slip. Some smuggled supari go to the rest of India by train from Dimapur via Assam.

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