Aizawl, May 19 : The Assam Rifles, in a joint operation with the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), have seized contraband worth Rs 8.30 crore in Mizoram, officials said here on Monday.

A defence spokesman said that acting on specific intelligence inputs, Assam Rifles and the officials of the DRI recovered poppy seeds worth Rs 7.40 crore and betel nuts worth Rs 90 lakh from two warehouse in Mizoram's Vairengte on Sunday.

Vairengte is located along the Assam-Mizoram border.

The recovered items have been handed over to the DRI, Aizawl, the spokesman said.

A senior official said that poppy seeds and betel nuts (areca nuts), also known as Burmese Betel nuts, were smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar.

Officials suspect that the poppy seeds, smuggled from Myanmar, were intended to be supplied to neighbouring Manipur, where illegal poppy cultivation is taking place to supply the products to drug manufacturing companies and organisations.

Manipur Police and other security forces have been regularly destroying illicit poppy cultivation in mountainous forest areas.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma had recently said that due to the illegal import of areca nut from Myanmar, local cultivators in the state have faced serious challenges in selling their produce at competitive prices. Addressing the training-cum-seminar on 'Scientific Methods of Cultivation of Areca nut and Pest Management', he emphasised that the government is working diligently to address these difficulties and take corrective measures. He announced that Rs 7.43 crore has been sanctioned by the North Eastern Council (NEC) for establishing areca nut processing units at Chemphai and Zamuang. He had said that these units would ensure proper processing of areca nuts, create value-added products, and facilitate marketing.

Lalduhoma also stressed the importance of proper utilisation of available resources to ensure increased productivity and economic benefits for farmers.

/IANS