AIZAWL: Seventy-one people, including 11 women, died due to drug abuse in Mizoram in 2024, according to the Excise and Narcotics Department. The number of deaths was marginally lower than that reported in 2023. A total of 74 people had died due to drug abuse that year, it said.
"The majority of them died due to heroin abuse," the department's spokesperson Peter Zohmingthanga said on Sunday. Since 1984, when the first drug-related death was reported, 1,881 people, including 230 women, have died due to drugs in the state, as per the government data.
Mizoram, where alcohol is banned, has been grappling with drug smuggling from Myanmar. The tiny hilly state shares an 828-km-long border with Myanmar and Bangladesh. Spasmo-Proxyvon and Parvon Spas were the leading killer drugs until 2015, after which heroin became predominant due to increased supply from Myanmar, officials said.
The highest drug-related deaths were reported in 2004 when 143 people died. Over the last 10 years, 564 people have been killed due to drug abuse in the state, the data showed.
The Excise Department seized 46.5 kg of heroin, 138.8 kg of methamphetamine tablets, and 586.6 kg of ganja, among other items, in 2024. It filed cases against 7,309 people in drug- and alcohol-related offenses last year.
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