Drug abuse has taken lives of as many as
68 people, including 11 women, in Mizoram till November this year, stated an
official of the State’s Excise and Narcotics Department.
The official said heroin was the primary
killer in Mizoram, which shares 510 km unfenced border with Myanmar and 318 km
border with Bangladesh.
The number of drug-related deaths was
recorded 43 last year and 47 in 2021, the official said, adding this year’s
death toll is expected to increase by the end of 2023.
The first case of drug-related death in
Mizoram, a key route for the smuggling of various types of drugs and other
contrabands from Myanmar, was recorded in 1984.
A total of 1,804 people, including 218
women, have died due to drug abuses during the past 39 years (since 1984).
Drug abuse in Mizoram reached alarming situation
with 139 deaths in 2000 while the highest number of drug-related fatalities was
143 in 2004.
Between January and October this year, multiple
law enforcing agencies including the Excise and Narcotics Department seized
76.22 kg of heroin.
The total seizure of heroin was 33.4 kg
last year. Besides heroin, 148.46 kg of ganja (cannabis), 78.82 kg of
methamphetamine, and other drugs apart from a substantial quantity of alcohol.
Liquor is banned for many years in Christian-dominated
Mizoram.
After heroin, the Methamphetamine
tablets (also called Yaba tablet or party tablet) contain a mix of
methamphetamine and caffeine and are largely misused as high-dosage drugs in
Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, besides Bharat.
Agency
