Aizawl, Oct 3 — The Assam Rifles have seized 2.5 kg of heroin worth Rs 5.07 crore from Mizoram's Champhai district along the India-Myanmar border and arrested two drug peddlers, both Myanmar nationals, officials said on Saturday.
A Defence spokesman said that acting on specific information, Assam Rifles troops conducted an operation at Zote in Champhai district and recovered 2.5 kg of heroin valued at around Rs 5.07 crore.
The Assam Rifles team also apprehended two individuals, who were identified as Myanmar nationals.
The seized narcotics and the apprehended individuals were handed over to the Champhai Excise and Narcotics Department for further investigation and requisite legal proceedings.
The seizure reflects the Assam Rifles' continued resolve, along with civil agencies, to curb narco-smuggling activities and ensure the safety and security of the border population in Mizoram, an official statement said.
Meanwhile, the Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department earlier this week destroyed seized drugs worth more than Rs 11.82 crore at Bethani Multipurpose Farm in Aizawl, following the disposal of cases by the courts and in accordance with Section 51A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and the NDPS (Seizure, Storage, Sampling and Disposal) Rules, 2022.
The destruction included 5.356 kg of heroin, 19.430 kg of ganja, 1.985 kg of methamphetamine tablets, 89.9 kg of codeine-based cough syrup, 0.418 kg of alprazolam, 0.04 kg of nitrazepam and 6.830 kg of opium, with a combined estimated value of Rs 11,82,13,173.
Mizoram and Manipur have emerged as major drug-trafficking corridors in the Northeast because of their long and porous international borders with Myanmar and their proximity to the Golden Triangle, one of the world's major illicit narcotics-producing regions.
Six districts of Mizoram and five districts of Manipur share around 910 km of unfenced international border with Myanmar.
Highly addictive methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba or party tablets, contain a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine and are misused as high-dosage drugs in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, besides India.
Various types of cough syrups containing codeine phosphate are also commonly misused as drugs and illegally trafficked in Bangladesh. These drugs are banned in India.
Besides methamphetamine tablets and heroin, other narcotic substances are also smuggled from Myanmar through Mizoram and transported to other parts of India and abroad through clandestine routes.