Aizawl: Amid the ongoing crisis in Manipur, the neighbouring State Mizoram has become the new drugs trade route from Myanmar. With roads being blocked along the highways of Manipur for over six weeks, drug smugglers have shifted their trade route from Manipur to Mizoram, said the sources.
Security forces in Mizoram have seized heroin worth over Rs 271 crore in the international market since January this year. Interestingly drugs worth over Rupees 80 crores were confiscated between May 5 to June 15. The Manipur violence started on May 3, and the drug rackets have changed their transit route to Mizoram since then, an official said in Aizawl.
The Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department seized 27.7 kg of heroin worth around Rs 138.5 crore between January and June this year. The seized heroin was mostly smuggled from Myanmar.
The State police seized 26.5 kg of heroin worth around Rs 132.5 crore between January and May. But the seizure from May 5 to June 15 is much higher, which is over 80 crores since the State has become the new transit route of drugs from Myanmar due to the ongoing crisis in Manipur. The State Government has expressed concern about the alarming increase in drug menace in the State.
The ‘Core Committee on Ruihol Do’ (War against drugs) chaired by Mizoram Social Welfare and Excise Minister Lalrinawma sat on last week and expressed concern about the sudden rise of the drug trade in the State.
Earlier on June 12, in a major drug haul, Mizoram police seized heroin worth Rs 31 crore. A Myanmarese and four Muslim drug peddlers from Assam were arrested by the police. The drug trader from Myanmar was identified as N Ngolang (55), a resident of the Tahan area of Myanmar. Two hundred fifty grams of heroin was seized from the Myanmar national along with some Indian currency.
In another seizure, the anti-narcotics wing of Mizoram police seized 5.8 kg of heroin from a truck in the Zemabawk locality on June 13. Four drug peddlers from Assam’s Cachar district were arrested for possessing the contraband. The arrested peddlers have been identified as Md Nazimul Hussain Barbhuiya (34), Abdul Kalam Laskar (23), Kutbul Alom Laskar (28) and Sukur Ali Mazumder (22), Mizoram police informed.
Mizoram Police on June 6 arrested two drug smugglers from Assam in the Champhai district of the State and seized a huge consignment of heroin. Acting on specific input, the Mizoram police conducted search operations and laid naka at Hnahlan and Tualcheng village areas. The team seized 3.02 Kg (250 soap cases) of heroin, valued at over Rs 15 crore in the international market, from the illegal possession of Nizam Uddin (48) and Ismail Ali Laskar (27). Both the arrested drug smugglers are from Barak Valley of Assam. A vehicle bearing registration number MZ-04-A-8486 was seized, which was used by the smugglers from the outskirts of Tualcheng village.
On May 21, Mizoram Police seized over 2.4 kgs of heroin worth a whopping Rs 12 crore.
Acting on intelligence inputs, Mizoram police intercepted a truck bearing registration number ‘MZ-01X-2184’ at Tawngtai Mual, Zemabawk and recovered 200 soap cases of heroin weighing 2.461 kg. The drug peddler Abdul Mazid Laskar, a resident of Assam’s Cachar district, was arrested by the police.
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