GUWAHATI: Mizoram is increasingly becoming a transit route for the smuggling of exotic animals.
Altogether 140 exotic wild animals and birds were rescued by the personnel of police and the Excise and Narcotics Department during a joint operation in the state's Champhai district, bordering Myanmar, on Saturday.
The rescued wild animals and birds include 30 tortoises, two monkeys, two marmoset monkeys, 22 pythons, 18 Sumatran water monitor, 55 crocodiles (hatchlings), four flame bowerbirds, four servel cats and one albino wallaby.
The animals, suspected to be smuggled from Myanmar, were found in three vehicles -- two Boleros and one Scorpio. The personnel rescued them after intercepting the vehicles.
Three persons, Lalemruata (38), Tinkhuma (38) and E Lalmuanpuia, were arrested by the police in connection with the seizure.
Official sources said the rescued animals and birds were handed over to the superintendent of Custom Preventive Force in Champhai for further legal action.
In September, 41 exotic wild animals and birds, suspected to be smuggled from Myanmar through Mizoram, were rescued from two vehicles in Kamrup district of Assam by the police. It was the biggest ever seizure of the trafficked animals in the state.
The animals rescued were two wallabies, 19 different types of primate species, two wild birds and 18 tortoises. The consignment was destined to Siliguri in West Bengal.
Thwarting the smuggling of exotic animals has become a new challenge for the police forces and other such agencies in the Northeast. Over the past few years, there have been several incidents in the region where trafficked animals were rescued by the police.