In a major recovery of narcotics along the Myanmar border, Assam Rifles has recovered 1.3 lakh Methamphetamine tablets worth more than ₹6.5 crore in the international market in Champhai district of Mizoram, a defence source said.
“In a major successful operation by an Assam Rifles battalion located at Serchhip, Mizoram, under the Mizoram range headquarters, a large quantity of Methamphetamine tablets were recovered last Wednesday,” the source stated. It was a well coordinated operation and the battalion was following up a specific input of likely smuggling of drugs along the Indo-Myanmar border in Champhai district which also led to the apprehension of two individuals, the source stated.
Several operations
The battalions deployed under the Headquarters Mizoram range have carried out several successful operations in the recent past leading to recovery of drugs and contraband worth crore of rupees, the source stated. There have been significant recoveries of drugs and contraband in large volumes in recent times by Assam Rifles in the northeast along the Myanmar border, the source added.
Narcotics smuggling has also significantly increased on the western border along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. Recoveries have gone up significantly in the last two years with strengthening of the anti-narcotic grid by the deployment of women soldiers of Assam Rifles, sniffer dogs and X-ray machines along with increased checking.
According to official data on recoveries in the northeast, narcotics including Methamphetamine and Yaba tablets, worth over ₹368.19 crore, have been recovered this year. In addition, contraband such as gold, gems, teak worth ₹52.61 crore and other miscellaneous items including foreign currency worth ₹16.56 crore were recovered which puts the overall recoveries at ₹440.25 crore. In addition, a total of 423 illegal weapons were recovered, including AK-47s, M-16s, Chinese pistols and Lathodes, so far in 2020, according to official data.
