Guwahati, Jan 14 (IANS): In a joint operation of Assam Rifles and police in Assam’s Karimganj district, an interstate drug peddling attempt was foiled, officials said on Sunday.

The police claimed that they have arrested two residents of neighbouring Tripura with at least 22,000 Yaba tablets and fake Indian currency notes were also recovered from their possession.

The police identified the accused as Pritiranjan Talukdar and Kajal Sarkar, residents of Tripura's Unakoti district.

Partha Pratim Das, the Superintendent of Police (SP) for the Karimganj district told IANS that the Assam Rifles first received the information from their intelligence sources, and that's how the combined operation was carried out on Saturday night.

“The two people who were arrested are Tripura residents who came to pick up the shipment. They were expected to deliver the Yaba tablets to their district,” Das said.

The SP said that there is a possibility that the shipment originated in Mizoram and more people were involved in this case.

“We are interrogating the arrested persons and by investigating the backward links, we will get more details,” he said.

The police said that the international market value of the seized drugs must be around Rs 2.2 crores and counterfeit currency notes were also recovered from the accused persons.

“Further investigation in the matter is underway,” the police officer said.