Mizoram CM Lalduhoma Urges Centre to Help Form Mizo Territorial Army to Curb Drug Trafficking

Lalduhoma expressed deep concern over the growing volume of narcotics being smuggled into Mizoram through the international border.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma urged the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to support the formation of a Mizo Territorial Army to combat the alarming rise in drug trafficking along the India-Myanmar border.

He made the appeal during a meeting on Tuesday with the Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Anurag Garg, and his team in Aizawl, where both sides discussed the growing narcotics threat in the state.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Lalduhoma expressed deep concern over the growing volume of narcotics being smuggled into Mizoram through the international border.

“We need more manpower and better policing infrastructure along the international border,” Lalduhoma said in the statement. “I have urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to help us raise a Mizo Territorial Army which will help us fend off the narcotics challenge.”

Lalduhoma also requested the NCB chief to provide technical inputs and suggestions to strengthen the state’s anti-narcotics efforts.

Responding to the request, NCB Director General Anurag Garg highlighted the urgent need to establish a dedicated NCB zonal office in Mizoram to improve coordination and resource sharing.

“A dedicated zonal office will allow us to share manpower and intelligence more efficiently,” Garg said during the meeting.

According to the Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department, drug trafficking from Myanmar has sharply increased. Enforcement agencies in the state seized 154.17 kg of methamphetamine in 2023. This figure shot up to 627.74 kg in 2024. Heroin seizures also rose from 68.05 kg in 2023 to 80.81 kg in 2024.

It may be noted that, Lalduhoma first announced the proposal to raise the Mizo Territorial Army in October 2024 after meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. He had said that such a force would improve border security and help tackle trans-border drug smuggling more effectively.

Also Read: Huge Cache of Arms and Ammunition Recovered in Mizoram, One Arrested

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