Tea has now emerged as a new item for smuggling to Bangladesh from Tripura. The Border Security Force recently seized 20 quintals tea power at Bilashchara in Kamalpur of Dhalai district.
The seized consignment was handed over to the local police station.
A police officer on Tuesday said smugglers collected the powder from a tea estate. The BSF personnel of the Kathalbari border outpost have foiled the attempt, he said.
The officer said the border in the area has been fenced but desperate smugglers make attempts to throw consignments across and sometimes use ladders for the purpose.
Tripura has some 50 tea gardens and several of them are owned by the State government after they were abandoned by the planters. The tea of some of the plants has attracted an international market at the initiative of the Tripura Tea Development Corporation Limited.
