Aizawl, Aug 3 (IANS) Four drug peddlers, including a Myanmar national, were arrested and highly addictive methamphetamine tablets and heroin valued at more than Rs 8.54 crore were seized in three separate anti‑narcotics operations carried out by security forces in Mizoram, officials said on Monday.
A senior police official said the Mizoram Police Special Task Force (STF), assisted by recruit constables, recovered 10 bundles of methamphetamine tablets weighing 9.796 kg, with an estimated market value of Rs 7.83 crore, from a truck travelling from Champhai towards Aizawl.
The truck was being driven by Vanlalruatsaka (32), a resident of Champhai district, which shares an unfenced international border with Myanmar.
He was taken into custody in connection with the seizure.
In another operation, a team from the Special Narcotics Police Station recovered and seized 241.21 grams of heroin concealed in 20 soap cases at Zemabawk.
The contraband was allegedly being transported by two suspected drug peddlers, identified as Hussain Ahmed Laskar (23) and Noor Ahmed Laskar (34), both residents of Assam’s Cachar district. The two accused were arrested on the spot.
Police also seized a Mahindra Bolero pick‑up van that was allegedly being used to transport the narcotics.
In the third operation, the Mizoram Police STF in Champhai, again assisted by recruit constables, intercepted a vehicle at the Khankawn Check Gate while it was on its way to Aizawl.
During the search, the team recovered 10 soap cases containing 118 grams of heroin, estimated to be worth around Rs 23.60 lakh in the illicit market. The heroin was allegedly recovered from the possession of Vanlalmuana (27), a resident of Tahan in neighbouring Myanmar, who was subsequently arrested.
Police registered three separate cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and other relevant provisions of law.
Further investigation is underway to ascertain the source, destination and wider network involved in the trafficking of the contraband.
Investigators suspect that both the methamphetamine tablets and heroin were smuggled into India from Myanmar through the porous international border.
Officials said Mizoram has increasingly emerged as a major drug trafficking corridor in the Northeast due to its long unfenced border with Myanmar, which forms part of the infamous “Golden Triangle” – one of the world’s largest illicit narcotics‑producing regions.
The state shares a 510‑km unfenced international border with Myanmar and a 318‑km border with Bangladesh, making it particularly vulnerable to cross‑border smuggling of narcotics, wildlife products, arms and other contraband.
Security agencies have intensified surveillance and anti‑drug operations across the border districts in recent months to curb the growing menace of transnational drug trafficking.
–IANS
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