71 people died due to drug abuse in Mizoram in 2024

Aizawl, Jan 12 (PTI) 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.
    "Majority of them died due to heroin abuse," the department's spokesperson Peter Zohmingthanga said on Sunday.
    A total of 1,881 people, including 230 women, have died due to drug abuse in the state since 1984 when the first drug-related death was reported, government data showed.
    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 main killer drugs in the state till 2015 when heroin took their place due to an increase in 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 others, in 2024. It filed cases against 7,309 people in drugs and alcohol-related offences last year.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)