Agartala, Jan 30 (IANS): Assam Rifles, in coordination with police, conducted a joint operation and seized and destroyed ganja (marijuana) plantations worth around Rs 6 crore in Tripura, officials said on Thursday.

A defence spokesman said that the para-military troops and Tripura Police personnel in their joint operation at Batadhala in Sepahijala district on Wednesday afternoon seized ganja (marijuana) worth Rs 5.35 crore and destroyed 15,000 marijuana saplings valued at Rs 60 lakh.

The spokesman said that acting on credible intelligence, the joint team swiftly executed the operation, dealing a significant blow to illegal drug cultivation and smuggling networks in the area, which is not far away from the India-Bangladesh border.

The seized marijuana was handed over to the police for further legal proceedings, while the illicit plantation was destroyed on-site to prevent its further exploitation.

This successful operation highlights Assam Rifles’ continued efforts in combating drug trafficking and maintaining law and order, an official statement said.

It said that the Assam Rifles, in close coordination with law enforcement agencies, remains committed to safeguarding the region from the menace of illicit drugs.

A police official said that they are looking for the marijuana cultivators.

In Tripura, illegal marijuana and in Manipur poppy cultivation is taking place in hill areas and these are being smuggled outside the region for making drugs. Often the security forces destroyed the marijuana and poppy cultivations as part of their efforts to curb the illegal drug trade.

Besides, various drugs, especially heroin and highly addictive methamphetamine tablets are often smuggled into the northeastern states of India from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643 km-long unfenced border with four northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km).