War on drugs in NE: Over 40K Kg of contraband destroyed, HM Shah takes the initiative

It is a firm resolution adopted by the Centre to make the entire Northeast free from the clutches of drugs menace. Home Minister Amit Shah who is in Guwahati is spearheading the mission and is chairing a key meeting with Chief Ministers of all the NE states including the DGPs of the respective states.

Union Home minister Shah launched the mega campaign against drugs in all the NE states from Guwahati.

As per available data, over 40,000 kg of seized contraband will be destroyed. Out of this consignment, 11,000 kg of contraband has been seized by NCB Guwahati. The consignments include marijuana, opium, codeine based cough syrups besides other psycotropic substances. The highest amount of 12,500 kg of contraband was destroyed in Tripura, followed by 7,900 kg in Assam, 1800 kg in Manipur, 1500 kg in Meghalaya, 1300 kg in Mizoram. Nagaland was at the bottom of the list where 400 kg of seized contraband was destroyed.

Since June 2022 the mission to tackle the drugs menace had begun and 1.9 lakh kg of drugs have already been destroyed.

As illicit drugs trafficking along the Northeast (NE) border is a huge matter of concern. It may be mentioned that drug trafficking is more vulnerable since the NE region is close to the Golden Triangle, along the Myanmar border. In the year 2021, Assam alone has witnessed a 65 per cent increase in the number of drug-related arrests by the Assam police as compared to 2020.