Aizawl, Aug 27: At least 351 people, including 46 women, have died in Mizoram in the last five years due to drug abuse, state Excise and Narcotics Minister Lalnghinghlova Hmar informed the assembly on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question from opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) member K Laldawngliana, Hmar said that 78 people out of 351 died of heroin abuse, while 273 people died due to abuse of multiple drugs, during the period from 2020 to August 8 this year.
He said that the victims were in the age group of 19-57 years.
During the period, the highest number of drug-related deaths was recorded in 2023 at 76, followed by 67 in both 2020 and 2024, he said.
A total of 51 people, including seven women, died of drug abuse from January to August 8 this year, he said.
Among Mizoram’s 11 districts, Aizawl reported the highest number of deaths due to drug abuse at 274, followed by the state’s second-largest district of Lunglei, at 69. Champhai district, which borders Myanmar, reported 58 deaths, Hmar said.
Hnahthial district reported the lowest number of deaths at one, he said.
Hmar said that various drugs, including 212.987 kg of heroin, 568.991 kg of methamphetamine and 1,566.662 kg of ganja, altogether worth Rs 152.43 crore, were seized by the Excise and Narcotics Department during the period.
A total of 4,400 people were also arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act during the period, he said.
On Tuesday, Home Minister K Sapdanga said that the state police, in coordination with the Excise Department and the state’s largest civil society organisation, Young Mizo Association (YMA), will launch a massive fight against drugs.
He said that drug smugglers and addicts commit theft and other crimes, endangering society, which demands the need to fight against them.
Mizoram has been grappling with the menace of drug abuse and drug trafficking from the south-east Asian countries, particularly Myanmar with which it shares a 510-km-long porous border.
According to police data accessed by PTI, a total of 185 Myanmar nationals were booked for drug smuggling cases from 2020 to May 2025.
Recently, Chief Minister Lalduhoma linked the steady inflow of narcotics to Mizoram to the state’s proximity to the ‘Golden Triangle’, a mountainous region in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos notorious for drug production and trade. (PTI)
