Shillong/Aizawl, (Samajweekly) The Meghalaya Police and the Assam Rifles on Friday, in separate incidents, seized heroin valued at Rs 7.16 crore and arrested two inter-state drug traffickers, officials said.
Officials said that acting on secret information, sleuths of the Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) intercepted two Shillong-bound vehicles, coming from Mizoram, at Nongsning checkpoint in East Jaintia Hills district.
The ANTF personnel seized 43.33 grams and 516.43 grams of heroin, valued at Rs 5.50 crore, packed in 48 soap boxes and seized them from the two vehicles.
The arrested drug peddlers have been identified as Lorence Zomuanpuia and Lalmalsawa.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma appreciated the efforts of the ANTF personnel.
“Our crusade against drugs will continue unabated till this menace is extirpated from the state,” Sangma said on X, formerly Twitter. Police have registered a case under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
In another incident, the Assam Rifles have seized 237 grams of heroin, worth around Rs 1.66 crore, concealed in 20 soap cases, from a house at Zokawthar in Mizoram’s Champhai district.
Smuggling of drugs from Myanmar and their peddling through various northeastern states have increased in the recent past with various drugs valued over Rs 149 crore seized in Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya during the past two weeks and 22 drug peddlers, including a few Myanmar nationals, arrested, officials said.
