After the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021 and the ethnic turmoil in Manipur since May 2023, illegal drug-related activities and smuggling into the country's northeastern region increased, officials said on Friday, stressing the need to step up vigilance and action to curb the drug menace.
Meghalaya Social Welfare Minister, Paul Lyngdoh, said that the ethnic unrest in neighbouring Manipur caused the growing drug trafficking in the mountainous state.
"This is an unfortunate part because of our region's strategic location and very proximity to the 'Golden Triangle' drug menaces are active in the region," he told the media.
The Minister, who also holds the Arts, Culture and Tourism Departments, said that due to the unrest in Manipur, illicit drugs trade has shifted from that particular area to Meghalaya, and it has become a major challenge for the government.
Saying that the state’s police and law-enforcing agencies have been kept on alert, he announced that the Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) would be further strengthened and the ANTF would be headed by a senior retired IPS officer.
The Minister said that he would soon visit Delhi to apprise the concerned central ministry about the seriousness and growing drug threat in Meghalaya.
Lyngdoh said that earlier only the police department was dealing with drug-related activities and now various departments and wings are very proactive to curb the drug-related challenges.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma personally looked after the matter and it shows the level of seriousness of the government, he said.
"We are in the process of constituting the Village Defence Party (VDP). The DREAM (Drug Reduction, Elimination & Action Mission) would be further strengthened," the Social Welfare Minister said.
Meanwhile, in Aizawl, senior police officers and other security officials submitted that smuggling of drugs, mostly heroin and methamphetamine tablets, also known as party tablets or Yaba, into India from Myanmar, has risen to a great extent after the military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.
The Assam Rifles, which has been guarding the unfenced 510 km of border with Myanmar, have seized different types of drugs valued at around Rs 67 crore and arrested eight drug peddlers, including three Myanmarese, during the last one week.
Officials said that during the six separate operations during the past one week, the paramilitary troopers seized 350 grams of heroin, 22.309 kg of methamphetamine tablets, 7.6 kg of ganja (Marijuana) and 90 lakhs of illegal Indian currencies.
Mizoram Police and Customs officials also often accompanied the Assam Rifles personnel in the operations against the illegal drugs peddling.
Mizoram, southern Assam and Tripura have become corridors of drug smuggling as the three northeastern states share borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Officials said that all the drugs smuggled from Myanmar and through Mizoram are ferried to southern Assam and Tripura to further smuggle these to Bangladesh or other parts of India.
Civil Aviation Ministry issues strict instructions to DGCA to enforce chopper safety
In the wake of a tragic helicopter crash in the Gaurikund area of Uttarakhand, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Sunday issued strict instructions to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to enforce all safety protocols related to chopper operations in hilly and sensitive areas like the Kedarnath valley.
‘Harming Indians will invite punishment’, HM Shah on Op Sindoor
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that through the anti-terror Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a strong message across the world that the bloodshed of Indians will invite punishment.
Dassault CEO trashes Pakistan's claims on downing Rafale jets
Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier has dismissed as "factually incorrect" Pakistan’s claims about having shot down three Rafale fighter jets of the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor.
Tripura BJP stages protest over vandalism at Tagore's ancestral home in B'desh
Ruling BJP in Tripura on Saturday staged state-wide protests along the Bangladesh border, protesting the recent attack and vandalism of the ancestral home of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in the neighbouring country.
Two new earthworm species unearthed in Tripura
In a major breakthrough for ecological science in Northeast India, two new species of earthworms—Kanchuria tripuraensis and Kanchuria priyasankari—have been formally identified in Tripura.
CM calls for mass awareness on voluntary blood donation
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha today urged to create massive awareness campaigns about the benefits of voluntary blood donation to encourage more people to donate blood.
Tripura has begun experimental soilless hydroponic farming: Minister
The Tripura government has experimentally started the hydroponics method of cultivation without any soil, the state’s agriculture minister Ratan Lal Nath said here on Friday.
Assam Rifles seized cannabis worth Rs 30 lakh from Tripura
In a swift and decisive operation against narcotics smuggling, Assam Rifles, in close coordination with representatives of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), successfully seized approximately 195 kg of marijuana from the general area of Taranagar, Agartala during the early hours of 12 June.