In a joint anti-narcotics operation, the Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police seized drugs worth Rs 16.26 crore and arrested a drug peddler in Saitual district, Mizoram, officials said on Friday.
A defence spokesman stated that the operation was conducted on Thursday night to curb the spread of narcotics in Mizoram. Acting on specific intelligence about the movement of drugs on Champhai-Saitual Road, a vehicle checkpoint was established, intercepting a suspicious vehicle. During a search, 5.421 kg of highly addictive methamphetamine tablets, valued at over Rs 16.26 crore, were recovered. The accused was identified as Thangtinsei, a resident of Moreh, a border town in Manipur along the India-Myanmar border.
The recovered contraband and the accused were handed over to Saitual Police for detailed investigation and further legal proceedings.
This seizure came just 24 hours after a similar bust in Mizoram, where Assam Rifles confiscated 4.444 kg of methamphetamine tablets worth approximately Rs 13.33 crore from a Myanmarese peddler along the World Bank Road in Champhai district.
Mizoram shares a 510 km unfenced border with Myanmar and 318 km with Bangladesh, while Manipur has a 398 km unfenced border with Myanmar, facilitating cross-border and inter-state drug trafficking. Myanmar’s Chin state is a hub for smuggling drugs, exotic wildlife, and other contraband through six Mizoram districts — Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual, Serchhip — and five Manipur districts — Churachandpur, Tengnoupal, Chandel, Kamjong, and Ukhrul.
The authorities continue to strengthen border surveillance and intelligence operations to combat the persistent drug menace in the northeastern states.
