War against drugs

Recent drug seizures by police at Dimapur and mostly at nearby Karbi Anglong indicate that trafficking is going on in a huge scale that was unimaginable till a few years back. The magnitude of the quantity of drugs especially heroin, prove that the north east region is a major transit zone of trafficking of various illicit drugs and heroin. The smuggling route is anywhere from the porous border between Myanmar and Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram etc. Drugs including opium, heroin, methamphetamine and many more are smuggled from Myanmar into the northeast. Moreh (Manipur), Champai (Mizoram), Dimapur (Nagaland), and Guwahati (Assam) have become the nucleus of drug trafficking industry in India’s northeast. Drugs produced in the notorious ‘Golden Triangle’ enter India through Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland from Bhamo, Lashio, and Mandalay in Myanmar . Also, drugs illicitly manufactured in India and used for refining heroin travel through the same route for trade.The route bifurcates and one channel moves northwards through Moreh in Manipur while other moves southwards to enter Champai in Mizoram. Recent seizures of various drugs and at Dimapur, Khatkhati, Bokajan and Nagaon etc indicate that the quantity being smuggled has multiplied many times. For instance, according to Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) during January 2019 the total quantity of heroin seized along the Moreh, Dimapur and Khatkhati route was around 700 grams or worth around Rs.3.5 crore. On the other hand, during January 2022 the total quantity of heroin seized on the same route was nearly 3 kgs and worth around Rs.15 crore. The seizures in 2021 were notable as quantities were huge. From July to October 2021, a total of approximately 20 kgs of heroin was seized by police mostly in Karbi Anglong and a few from Dimapur. A high profile case was the arrest of a female drug smuggler known as ‘Didi’ and hailing from Manipur during June 2021. Assam Police who were tracking the main supply source, found that Th. Paone alias Didi stores huge quantity of heroin in Dimapur and then send them repacked in small packets to other destination across Assam and other states. She was nabbed in Karbi Anglong by police in a well laid trap with heroin worth over Rs.7 crore. The biggest seizure in 2021 was in December when Assam Rifles and Manipur Police seized over 54 kgs of heroin valued at Rs.508 crore in the market. According to official sources, the value of drugs etc smuggled from Myanmar to Manipur, Nagaland and Assam is huge. Indo-Myanmar border is guarded by the Assam Rifles (AR), a paramilitary force, under the operational control of Indian Army’s Eastern Command. The border encounters non-conventional security challenges as it provides a secure channel for the movement of north east insurgents, narcotics trafficking, gunrunning, smuggling of wildlife etc. Now the government has extended to the Assam Rifles two provisions of the country’s Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Section 42 of the NDPS Act authorizes the empowered officers of this force now to “search the premises, seizure of the drugs, detain any person or arrest the person who has committed the offence without a warrant.” Hopefully, this will make a huge impact in preventing drugs and illicit substances from pouring in for the safety and future of the people.