Cachar Police dealt a major blow to illegal cigarette trafficking after seizing a large consignment of foreign-made cigarettes and apprehending a truck driver during a special operation in the Jirighat area of Cachar district on December 16, officials said.

Acting on credible information, a police team intercepted an Ashok Leyland container truck bearing registration number NL-01-AG-6334. During a detailed search of the vehicle, officers recovered foreign-made cigarettes concealed inside a specially created chamber in the body of the truck.

According to police, the seized items included 50 cartons of cigarettes. Each carton contained 50 medium-size packets, with every medium packet holding 10 small packets. Each small packet contained 20 cigarette sticks, taking the total number of seized cigarettes to around five lakh.