New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS): Border Security Force (BSF) troops seized 597 bottles of banned cough syrup Phensedyl from the border area under South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya on Wednesday.

According to BSF officials on Thursday, on a specific tip-off, the recoveries were made near Border out Post (BoP) Devendera in Jankhol under 55 Battalion Sector headquarter Tura in Meghalaya when the bottles were getting smuggled to Bangladesh.

On February 14, the BSF personnel arrested two youths for allegedly smuggling it near the Hakimpur BoP in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

The arrested youths were allegedly involved in smuggling of narcotics over the past few days in the region and were to be paid Rs 500 for transporting 60 bottles of Phensedyl which were recovered from their possession.

South Bengal Frontier of the BSF had seized about 1,000 bottles of Phensedyl in the border areas in first week of January while in 2021, they seized around 1.64 lakh bottles of the cough syrup.

Phensedyl is a codeine-based cough syrup which is banned in Bangladesh as it was used in lieu of liquor which is also prohibited. It was consumed by youngsters in large quantities against the recommended small dose to get a high.

BSF has been developing a network for information on smuggling and attempts are being made to constantly improving the human intelligence network on the eastern borders.