Heroin worth Rs 3 lakhs seized from maxicab drivers acting as mules of cross-border traffickers

A joint team of investigators from Mizoram’s Excise and Narcotics Department and the voluntary Supply Reduction Service of the YMA on Thursday seized 70 grams (estimated to cost Rs 3 lakhs) of heroin and arrested two maxicab drivers plying the route between Aizawl and Zokhawthar, a village on the Indian side of the international border with Myanmar.

SRS leaders say maxicab drivers are being used as mules or carriers by dealers who send consignments from across the border in Myanmar and earn about Rs 3000 per consignment of roughly 15 grams, which commands a street price of about Rs 60,000 currently.

The SRS is a voluntary force of about 36 men appointed by Mizoram’s largest community-based organisation to combat the rising availability of heroin and heroin addicts in the state.

An Excise and Narcotics Inspector said sleuths acted on information received from the SRS volunteers to lay a trap for the carriers, and that eventually 23 grams of heroin was caught from maxicab drivers Vanlalhruaia (21) of Zokhawthar village and 47 grams from Dawngkima (31) of Khuangleng village (both are located in Champhai district).

Source:: Indian Express