Foreign-origin cigarettes, drugs worth Rs 3.66 cr seized in Mizoram, two held

Aizawl: The security forces have seized foreign-origin cigarettes worth Rs 2.38 crore and one lakh Methamphetamine tablets valued at Rs 1.28 crore in separate raids in Mizoram, officials said here on Sunday.

Two drug peddlers Litan Nama (28) and Jakir Hussain (23), who hailed from Tripura, were arrested and their vehicle Mahindra Scorpio used for transportation of the contraband was also seized.

Officials said that the Assam Rifles and the Customs Preventive Force seized the foreign-origin cigarettes worth Rs 2.38 crore, contained in 109 cases, suspected to have been illegally imported from neighbouring Myanmar, was recovered in east Mizoram's Champhai district.

The Excise and Narcotics department officials first seized 20,000 tablets of Methamphetamine at Khatla locality in Saturday afternoon from the two accused persons. Thorough checking of the seized vehicle resulted in the discovery of additional 80,000 tablets and arrested Litan and Jakir.

They were produced before the Special Court (ND&PS Act) in Aizawl which remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days and sent them to Central Jail in Aizawl.

Mizoram's 510 km unfenced borders with Myanmar have become an easy corridor for drugs smuggling in northeast India.