Guwahati, Apr 24 (IANS): Assam police on Monday seized 1.53 lakh kg of illegally imported Burmese areca nuts from various locations in Cachar district, making it one of the biggest seizures ever.

According to the police, the market value of the seized Burmese areca nuts would be around Rs 4 crore.

Ten alleged smugglers have been detained in this regard, including five from Uttar Pradesh, two from Rajasthan, one from Bihar, and two from Assam. Eight vehicles transporting Burmese betel nuts were also seized by the police, and the majority of those detained were drivers.

Numal Mahatta, Cachar district Superintendent of Police, told reporters that a 24-hour search had begun the previous day. By Monday, the police had stopped eight vehicles that were transporting the illegal areca nuts.

"Our special teams were keeping a close watch on smugglers' activities throughout Cachar district. The traffickers sought to go through Cachar to other regions of the country with the consignments coming from the adjacent states," Mahatta said.

He claimed that a number of gangs are involved in smuggling in areca nuts from nations like Thailand and Myanmar, using vehicles that travel through the Assam-Mizoram route.

The officer said, "They use various strategies to evade the authorities, but we have our own system of intelligence in place. We have been stopping practically every vehicle trying to transport Burmese areca nuts through our neighbourhood."

Those detained have been identified as Najmul Hussain (32), Dilip Singh (48), Shane Alam (21), Dinesh (32), Tehjib Alom (24), Deepak Kumar (22), Mahammad Kaif (20), Jane Alom (20), Jahir Ahmed Laskar (35), and Vasim (26).