Silchar, Aug. 2: Mizoram police have set up a special cell to track the increasing number of arms dealers who smuggle arms and ammunition from Myanmar.

Most of the arms are sold to militant outfits of the region.

C. Laldina, the superintendent of police (CID) today said Mizoram police were concerned over the increasing incidents of cross-border trafficking of weapons from Myanmar. He said Champhai town in Mizoram was the base for a network of arms smugglers, which smuggles arms to Tiddim and Mandalaya in Myanmar.

These arms are brought to Tiddim from Thailand’s great arms bazaar of Chiang Mai.

Laldina added that most of the arms traffickers are from Chin hills in Myanmar and belong to the Kuki-Chin tribe.

The special cell of the CID on Thursday raided a house after a tip-off and seized a cache of arms, including eight M-16 rifles, a Chinese 9mm pistol and eight walkie-talkies.

The CID SP said the police were investigating if these arms were meant for the DHD (J). The smugglers escaped.

The arms trail leads from Champhai to Haflong in North Cachar Hills district through Cachar district.

One June 26 last year, Mizoram police tracked down a Tata 707 carrying 26 rocket launchers at Siphir village on the outskirts of Aizawl city. Three persons were arrested and interrogated by the CID.

Interrogation revealed the existence of a smuggling ring under the leadership of Lal Liana, 42, a Chin-Kuki tribal from Tiddim town in Myanmar. He was later arrested from Aizawl.

In Mizoram last year, the CID recovered five rocket launchers from one such key smuggler of arms named Khatsi Anpao.