Meghalaya BSF seized smuggled goods worth Rs 39 cr in 2020.

Shillong: The lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a reduction in cross-border smuggling but rose once the lockdown was relaxed, said Inspector General of the Border Security Force, Meghalaya Frontier, Hardeep Singh on Friday.

In a press conference held at BSF HQ in Shillong, Singh informed that in 2020, the BSF apprehended 171 trans-border criminals. Also, 16 illegal entrants were nabbed in the border area by the BSF.

Out of this 171, 167 were smugglers from India and 4 from Bangladesh. While illegal entrants nabbed, four were Indian, nine Bangladeshis and three Nigerians.

Reacting to the arrest of Nigerians, a senior police official told EastMojo on the condition of anonymity, “Bangladesh provides a good market for narcotics. When there is a demand for drugs in India, they cross the border. Sometimes it is for delivering drugs, and on other occasions, it is to collect drug money.”

https://www.eastmojo.com/meghalaya/2021/01/08/meghalaya-bsf-seized-smuggled-goods-worth-rs-39-cr-in-2020