Mizoram Police have seized drugs and smuggled foreign-origin cigarettes worth approximately Rs 6.84 crore in three separate operations across Champhai, Saitual and Aizawl districts, arresting or apprehending six people, police said. The seizures underline how the state’s border districts remain a front line in the fight against narcotics trafficking in the Northeast.
The operations were carried out across the state, with each district team acting on its own intelligence. Police said investigations into all three cases are continuing, and further arrests have not been ruled out.
Meth and heroin seized in Champhai
In the Champhai operation, police intercepted a van on the Zokhawthar-Melbuk road. A search of the vehicle yielded 3.275 kg of methamphetamine worth Rs 2.62 crore and 145 grams of heroin valued at Rs 29 lakh. Champhai district borders Myanmar, and the Zokhawthar crossing is one of the main transit points in the region, making it a closely watched route for enforcement agencies.
Cigarettes seized at an Aizawl checkpoint
In the Aizawl operation, the District Executive Force stopped two vehicles at Seling Naka and recovered 93 master cases of foreign-origin cigarettes, carrying an estimated value of Rs 2.47 crore. Police arrested Singrothuami, 51, of Edenthar Veng, and Lalchamliana, 30, of Zokhawthar, in connection with the seizure. A third operation was conducted in Saitual district, and police said further investigation into all three cases is under way.
A border state on the front line
Mizoram shares an international border with Myanmar, and the state has long been a transit route for narcotics and smuggled goods moving into India. Methamphetamine and heroin are the most commonly seized drugs on this route, while smuggled foreign cigarettes form a parallel trade that evades tax and customs duty. Seizures of this scale are a measure of both the volume of the trade and the pressure enforcement agencies are under to intercept it.
The pattern is familiar across the region. A recent DRI operation seized 50 kg of meth in Assam and Mizoram and arrested four people, while the Centre has been pressing states to strengthen the anti-drug drive, including through a dedicated helpline for reporting narcotics offences.
What happens next
Investigators will now work backwards from the seizures, tracing the consignments to their sources and the networks that move them across the border. The value of the seizures, the number of arrests and the spread across three districts suggest coordinated action rather than isolated catches, but the networks behind the trade are rarely dismantled by a single round of raids. Sustained intelligence work and cooperation with central agencies will decide whether these seizures lead to lasting disruption of the supply chain.
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