Guwahati: The Assam Rifles on Tuesday (August 27) said its troops have foiled multiple smuggling bids in Mizoram and seized contraband items valued at Rs 1.61 crore in the international market.
The paramilitary force in a post on X said its personnel conducted a series of operations in the hill state’s Siaha and Champhai districts, and seized areca nuts and heroin, besides apprehending an alleged smuggler.
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India shares a 1,643-kilometre-long border with Myanmar, with four of the Northeastern states – Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, sharing international borders with the neighbouring country.
While Mizoram shares a 510-kilometre-long border with Myanmar, Manipur shares 398 kilometres, Nagaland (215) and Arunachal Pradesh (520).
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The smugglers widely use these porous borders, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to smuggle various contraband items, including narcotic drugs and areca nuts, into India from Myanmar.
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Other than areca nuts and narcotic substances, traffickers also smuggle arms and ammunition, exotic wildlife, gold, among others. According to the law enforcement agencies, cross-border smuggling is on the rise in the Northeast in recent times.
The Assam Rifles has alone seized a staggering 4428.314 tonnes of areca nuts, valued at Rs 377.462 crore in the grey market, from the bordering areas of Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland, between January and December, 2023.