Aizawl/Agartala, Sep 24 Assam Rifles have seized heroin valued at approximately Rs 11.40 crore in Mizoram and arrested three drug peddlers, including a woman, officials said on Wednesday.
A defence spokesman said that acting on reliable inputs of drug trafficking, Assam Rifles troops launched an operation in the World Bank Road areas bordering Zokhawthar town in Champhai district on Tuesday night.
The paramilitary troops noticed three individuals in the area suspiciously searching for something. The individuals, including the woman were apprehended while attempting to pick up a concealed package.
A thorough search of the area led to the recovery of 1.377 kilogram of heroin worth approximately Rs 11.40 crores.
The three individuals were identified as Zarzosanga, Joseph Lalmuansanga and Malsawmkimi.
The recovered narcotics, along with the apprehended individuals, have been handed over to the Customs and Narcotics Department for further legal action.
Officials said that the drugs smuggled from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643 km unfenced border with four northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram -- serve as a key transit point for drugs, particularly heroin and methamphetamine tablets, entering India.
Myanmar's Chin state is a hub for the smuggling of varied drugs, exotic wildlife animals and many other contraband through six Mizoram districts -- Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual and Serchhip.
In Tripura, Chief Minister Manik Saha said that various law-enforcing agencies have arrested 248 persons for illegal drug consumption and also apprehended 2,729 drug peddlers during the last three financial years.
The Chief Minister, while replying to queries from Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman and CPI (M) legislator Sudip Sarkar in the Tripura Assembly on Tuesday night, said that besides arresting 2,729 drugs peddlers during the last three financial years (2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25), the security agencies are now looking for 28 more illegal drugs sellers, who are now absconding.
CM Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, in a written reply, said that under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985, the conviction rate was 11.7 per cent in 2022 and 2023 and five per cent in 2024.
Following the order of the courts, the High Level Drug Disposal Committee and State Level Drug Disposal Committee destroyed and burnt down the seized drugs in pre-notified places, the Chief Minister stated.
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