Refugees from Myanmar smuggling into India

Refugees from Myanmar have also been found involved in smuggling into India. Some Myanmar refugees, along with militant organizations from the Northeast, smuggle rare exotic creatures, drugs and foreign cigarettes into India. The Champai district of Mizoram, which shares a border with Myanmar, remains the main route for smuggled goods including wild animals.
In the year 2020, 20.36 kg of heroin was caught in Mizoram via Myanmar. At the same time, 34.52 kg of heroin was caught in the year 2021. In the first half of 2022, about 20 kg of heroin was caught. Of those arrested on charges of smuggling, 374 are citizens of Myanmar.
Mizoram Inspector General of Police John Neihaliya said that some drug rackets have also involved many Mizoram people in smuggling. He said that most of the local Mizos who engage in illegal activities with Myanmar refugees are people who have shunned crime. Now some Myanmarese are provoking them back to commit crimes.
The borders of Mizoram and Myanmar are intertwined. There are also tribal links between the people living in the Mizo villages along the border and most of the refugees coming from Myanmar. Tribal groups like Chin also have kinship among themselves. These people coming from Myanmar are also buying Benami land in the name of their relatives living in Mizoram.
There are a total of 30,316 Myanmarese refugees in Mizoram. This includes 11,798 children and 10,047 women. They live in 156 relief camps set up by the state government. Myanmar refugees sell orangutans, a monkey species brought from Indonesia to other places from Mizoram at exorbitant prices. Myanmar refugees also smuggle dry betel nut, drugs, clothes and Burmese cigarettes into India.
The smuggling from Myanmar to India is helped by the officers of the military dictator there. Smugglers entering India from Myanmar are given cover. Smugglers are also made to cross the border. A total of 12 Myanmarese nationals were apprehended by the Mizoram Police in the year 2021 with drugs. This number has increased to 35 by August this year.