Contraband drugs destroyed in public

Heroin, intoxicating tablets and marijuana worth over Rs. 100 crore in the international market were burned in a public place here on Thursday. Officials said these contraband drugs had been seized in different raids in the hills over a year.

Narcotics Control Bureau director S. Biswas and its regional director Bijoy supervised the incineration near a brick kiln at Koirengei.

The officials told journalists that both tribal and non-tribal farmers had taken to cultivating marijuana plants. Though the plants were periodically destroyed, the farmers continued to indulge in this lucrative business as the interior fields and high mountains were not easily accessible to officials.