Aizawl: Saitual district police have seized illegal drugs worth ₹228.19 crore in the international market since Jan, an official said on Wednesday.The seizures include 14.663 kg of heroin, recovered in 23 cases, with an estimated value of more than ₹45 crore. Police also seized 252.565 kg of methamphetamine in 12 cases, valued at around ₹149.63 crore.Other seizures included opium fluid worth ₹6 crore, morphine valued at ₹25 lakh and cannabis or marijuana in several cases.Most of the seizures were made by a special team of the Saitual District Executive Force at Kawngkualmawi in Keifang town, where large consignments trafficked from Manipur were intercepted, police said.The estimated value of the seized drugs was calculated using rates quoted by Narcotics Control Bureau, the official said.Enforcement officials said drug traffickers and their carriers, or “mules”, shifted their main route from Champhai district after Mizoram govt launched “Operation Jericho” on Sept 1 last year.Large consignments are now being trafficked from Myanmar through Manipur and southern Mizoram, which borders Chin State, particularly through Lawngtlai and Siaha districts, officials said.The state govt has claimed that the prices of heroin, methamphetamine and crystal meth have risen sharply since the campaign began.
