Ever since violence between Kuki-Chin and Meitei tribes erupted in Manipur last year, the multimillion-dollar narcotics trade, with origins in Myanmar’s Shan State, has shifted to parts of Mizoram in India’s northeast, government documents accessed by Northeast News have revealed.
This is reflected in the increasing cases of drug seizures in Mizoram. While the number of cases registered with the Mizoram Police in 2020 was 101 with 143 arrests, the number grew to 123 cases in 165 arrests in 2021. The corresponding numbers for 2022, 2023, 2024 and January-April 2025 stood at 248 and 347, 273 and 385, 338 and 466 and 84 and 115, respectively.
Similarly, the seizure of particular drugs, especially heroin, went up from 8.783 kg in 2020 to 80.814 kg in 2024, with 16 kg being seized in the first four months of 2025.
The value of total drugs seized in some Mizoram districts, especially those on the borders with Myanmar, also witnessed a massive jump between 2020 and the first four months of 2025. While five years ago, the total value was at Rs 1,67,82,37,360 (US$ 1,96,43,080.22), it stood at Rs 51,83,57,380 (US$ 60,67,093.22), Rs 43,43,21,325 (US$ 50,83,890.33), Rs 1,89,66,87,195 (US$ 2,22,01,425.39), Rs 2,11,63,50,335 (US$ 2,47,76,020.68) and Rs 52,00,15,865 (US$ 60,87,804.93) 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and the first four months of 2025, respectively.
The smuggling in of drugs such as methamphetamine went up from a high of 548.7 kg in 2020 to a very high (627.7 kg) in 2024, Mizoram Police records show. Refined drugs such as crystal meth – a derivative of methamphetamine) – and other less deadly drugs have also been seized in areas within the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram.
The trafficking in narcotics in Mizoram went up alarmingly between 2020 and 2025, forcing Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director General Anurag Garg to press for an NCB zonal office in the state. Garg flew to Aizawl to meet Chief Minister Lalduhoma (in the second week of April 2025) to share details culled by his organisation and impressed upon the state authorities to crack down on the illicit trade, which could potentially create conditions similar to Manipur.
Drug smuggling involving Mizoram, which shares a 510-km and a 318-km-long unfenced border with Myanmar and Bangladesh, respectively, has continued unabated, with state and central police and security agencies seemingly unable to check the outflow of raw materials and finished drugs.
Official documents accessed by Northeast News show that finished drugs enter Mizoram from several border points on the India-Myanmar border. One route is from Thukai in Myanmar’s Chin State to Zokhawthar, Champhai and Seling, Zembawk and Aizawl in Mizoram. Likewise, drugs originate in Meilet in Myanmar to enter Saikhumphai in Champhai district, and onward to Vaphai, Khawbung, Serchhip and Aizawl.
There is a relatively infrequent route between Manipur and Mizoram: earlier, drugs originating in Sinzawl in Manipur to Khawdungsei, Seling and Aizawl in Mizoram.
The third critical area for narcotics smuggling is the stretch from Aizawl, Kolasib, Vairengte and Silchar (in Assam), Aizawl, Mamit (in Mizoram) and Vanghmun in Tripura, and from Aizawl to West Phaileng and Khantlang (both in Mamit district) and further into corresponding areas in Tripura.
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Overall, six Mizoram districts – Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual and Serchhip – form key points in the drug trafficking network that extends into Chin State and beyond. Sources in an Indian security organisation said they suspect the involvement of a Delhi-based Mizo businessman and at least two ministers in the illicit drug trade.
