Aizawl, April 9 (IANS) In a significant operation against the illegal trade of forest resources, the Assam Rifles have seized a consignment of Anchiri (Paris polyphylla), a rare and high-value medicinal plant, worth Rs 36 lakh and arrested three persons in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, officials said on Thursday.

An Assam Rifles official stated that the consignment of Anchiri (Paris polyphylla), packed in 102 bags, was seized near Zorinpui in Lawngtlai, along the Indo-Myanmar border on Wednesday.

According to Headquarters, Inspector General of Assam Rifles (East), the consignment was smuggled through the Sekul River and intercepted at a river-road junction while being loaded onto a truck.

Three individuals were apprehended during the operation.

Anchiri is widely used in traditional medicine for treating inflammation, infections, and wounds. It is also in demand for pharmaceutical research, making it a frequent target of illegal cross-border trade.

Zorinpui, located in the Lawngtlai district of southern Mizoram, serves as a vital land check post along the India-Myanmar border. The area is also strategically important due to its proximity to the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in neighbouring Myanmar.

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long unfenced international border with Myanmar and a 318-km-long porous and mountainous border with Bangladesh, making the region particularly vulnerable to cross-border smuggling of drugs and other illegal activities. Myanmar’s adjoining Chin State is considered a major hub for trafficking various narcotics, arms and ammunition, exotic wildlife, precious medicinal plants, foreign-made cigarettes, Myanmar areca nuts (betel nuts), and other contraband.

These illegal goods are often smuggled through six districts of Mizoram — Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual, and Serchhip. Among the most commonly trafficked substances from Myanmar are methamphetamine tablets, widely known as Yaba or “party tablets”. Often referred to as the “crazy drug”, these tablets contain a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine and are strictly banned in India.

–IANS

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