Aizawl: Mizoram’s Excise and Narcotics Minister Lalnghinglova Hmar said at least 13,256 people, including 100 foreign nationals, were arrested in drug- and alcohol-related cases in Mizoram during the 21-month period from January 2024 to September this year.
Hmar said the excise department registered 1,016 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and 12,047 cases under the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) (MLP) Act, 2025, during the same period.
He said 1,563 people were arrested under the NDPS Act, while 10,906 others were booked under the MLP Act for selling, manufacturing or importing illicit liquor, or for illegal consumption of alcohol. Among those arrested were 100 foreign nationals, mostly from Myanmar.
In addition, 787 people were arrested in 826 alcohol-related cases under the Mizoram Excise Act, 1973, in three autonomous district council areas in the southern part of the state, he said.
Hmar said the department seized large quantities of narcotics during the period, including 80.594 kg of heroin, 425.144 kg of methamphetamine, 1.193 kg of opium and 801 kg of ganja. Most of the drugs, particularly bulk seizures, were intended for transportation outside Mizoram, he added.
Drugs worth Rs 71.64 crore have been destroyed by the excise department in the two years since the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government, led by Chief Minister Lalduhoma, assumed office in December 2023, the minister said.
He also said that large quantities of illicit country-made liquor, Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), imported foreign liquor, beer and illicit fruit wine were seized during enforcement drives.
Mizoram is a dry state where the manufacture, sale, consumption and import of liquor are prohibited under the MLP Act.
However, Hmar said that the Mizoram Assembly passed an amendment to the prohibition law in March this year to allow the manufacture, sale and supply of wine and fruit beer made exclusively from locally produced agricultural and horticultural products.
He said that the government is making massive efforts to curb the growing trafficking and abuse of drugs. Despite a manpower crunch, officials of the excise department are working round the clock to curb the menace, he said.
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He, however, said that the state is still grappling with the drug menace despite collective efforts by law enforcement agencies and civil societies.
