AIZAWL:
Several local civil resistance groups in Chin state and the Sagaing division of Myanmar have threatened drug traffickers in the neighbouring country with dire consequences if they continue to smuggle narcotics and other contrabands to Mizoram.
The warning from Chin National Army (CNA), The CNA and Chin National Defense Force (CNDF), Hualngoram People Organisation (HPO-Hualngoram), People Defence Army (PDA), People’s Defence Force – Kalay (PDF – Kalay) and Zomi Federal Union (ZFU – Zoland), came in the wake of growing concerns that the civil disorder in Myanmar has led to a rise in cross-border drug trafficking, particularly in Mizoram.
“We are going to take all necessary steps to stop such activities, and traffickers would be branded as enemies and traitors if they continue to do so,” said a statement jointly issued by the groups warning smugglers who are indulging in drug trafficking in Mizoram posing as Myanmarese refugees.
Mizoram state Excise and Narcotics department said the flow of heroin from Myanmar has drastically increased due to the growing instability in the neighbouring country following a military coup a year ago. A senior official of the department revealed that due to the increased supply, the price of heroin has come down drastically in Mizoram, which is a concern for social workers and law enforcement agencies.
“While the street value of a hawng (a package of 12 to 13gm of heroin) was over Rs 80,000 when the border was sealed due to Covid-19 last year, the same can be purchased for Rs 25,000 in Myanmar and sold in Mizoram for Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000,” the official said, adding that the Myanmar administration was too occupied with the civil war to check narcotics trafficking.
The groups in the joint statement also thanked the people of Mizoram, state government, churches, civil societies and political parties for looking after the refugees from Myanmar.
The statement said that it is not known for how long the refugees have to remain in Mizoram and pleaded with the people of the state to continue the good work.
“We will never forget what the government, people and organisations in Mizoram is doing to the refugees and appeal to all the people of the state to pray for restoration of liberty and peace in Myanmar,” the statement read.
They also asked the refugees to become useful to the society in the villages and towns in Mizoram.