Police in Phuentshogling detained five people including a teenage boy on Thursday for allegedly smuggling tobacco products worth more than Nu 500,000. The tobacco products were smuggled through Amochhu using tyre tubes by people from across the border on Wednesday.
According to a source, the smugglers crossed Amochhu from Jaigaon side towards Tading Gewog in Samtse, walking all the way across the shallow river. The smugglers reached Phuentshogling side of Amochhu on Thursday early morning. DeSuups and police on duty saw the movement of some 15-20 people through an infrared camera installed in one of the outposts along the border. The investigating team caught a 53-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy waiting for the consignment at Phuentshogling side of Amochhu.
The team further followed the consignment till Ganglakha, nearly 35 KM towards Thimphu from Phuentsholing, where the consignment was supposed to be transshipped in another vehicle. The team caught a 22-year-old man, who was the main suspect and his two friends who came from Thimphu to collect the consignment. The consignment consists of 500 packets of classic cigarettes, 2,000 packets of Will’s Navy cut, 4,440 packets of chewing tobacco and 3,000 packets of bidi. The police also impounded both the vehicles.
Sonam Penjor
