Drugs Worth Rs 31 Crore Seized In Mizoram As Centre Decides To Fence Indo-Myanmar Border

Drugs worth Rs 31 crore have been seized in Mizoram as the Centre decides to fence the Indo-Myanmar border.

The arrested duo with the seized consignment of narcotic drugs

Source : X/@mizorampolice

Guwahati: The Mizoram Police on Tuesday arrested two persons, including a woman, from the Melbuk area in the northeast hill state’s Champhai district bordering Myanmar, and seized more than 10 kilograms of narcotic drugs, valued at over Rs 31 crore in the grey market, from their possession.

Based on input from a reliable source, the Mizoram police along with a team of the state’s Crime Investigation Department-Special Branch (CID-SB) and the District Executive Force (DEF), Champhai, while carrying out a joint operation, apprehended two individuals, and recovered 10 packets of suspected Crystal meth, weighing 10.385 kilograms, valued at Rs 31.115 crore in the international market, from their possession.

The police soon arrested the duo, identified as Malsawmzuali (38) and Lalchhandama (19), both residents of Lengpui town in Mizoram’s Mamit district, and seized the narcotic drugs. The police later registered a case at the Zokhawthar police station, vide case number 6/2024, under section 22 (C)/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The Mizoram police said that tips and information from public sources can support the police in planning and executing undercover operations.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the Centre was committed to building impenetrable borders and has decided to construct a fence along the entire 1,643-kilometer-long Indo-Myanmar border. The Home Minister also said that to facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will be paved.

India shares a 1,643-kilometre-long border with Myanmar, with four of the northeastern states- Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, sharing international borders with Myanmar. While Mizoram shares a 510-kilometre-long border with the neighbouring country, Manipur shares 398 kilometres, Arunachal Pradesh 520, and Nagaland 215. Traffickers widely use these porous borders, especially Manipur and Mizoram, to smuggle various contraband items, including narcotic drugs, from Myanmar to India. However, due to the ongoing unrest in Manipur, the traffickers have avoided Manipur and turned to the Mizoram corridor to smuggle contraband items to India.

In November 2023, Mizoram Director General of Police (DGP), Anil Shukla, told ABP Live, that the traffickers in the recent past have been using the Mizoram corridor to smuggle contraband items to India from Myanmar due to the prevailing situation in Manipur. DGP Shukla also said that the traffickers mostly use the international borders in the state’s Champhai district to smuggle the contraband items.