Aizawl: Mizoram excise and narcotics department officials on Friday seized 6.870 kg of opium at Niawhtlang village in south Mizoram’s Siaha district and arrested two persons, including a Myanmar national, department spokesperson Peter Zohmingthanga said on Saturday.Zohmingthanga said the contraband was seized by the excise and narcotics department officials in a joint operation with local civil society organisations of Siaha district and adjoining Lawngtlai district. The arrested persons were identified as Lesa (40) of Zesaw village, Chin State, Myanmar and Chungnuamthanga (41) of Niawhtlang (Noaotla-2) in Siaha district.He said the opium was illegally smuggled from Mindat in southern Chin state of Myanmar and was to be sold to people in Lawngtlai district.The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act), and produced before a district court in Siaha on Saturday.Enforcement agencies in the state said Champhai district has been the main route for drug trafficking from Myanmar, but the state govt’s anti-drug war called ‘Operation Jericho’, launched in Sept last year, has forced drug traffickers to change the conduit via Manipur and southern Mizoram districts of Lawngtlai and Siaha.
