In view of the present turmoil in the state of Manipur, the drug route has shifted to Mizoram state which also borders Myanmar and there is a sudden spurt in drug seizures there by state police and central agencies. Both in the states of Manipur and Mizoram, the border is porous and mostly unfenced.
But, as Manipur happens to be a traditional route used by drug smugglers for decades, they find it easier to grease palms and transport drug consignment while in Mizoram one has to newly establish the network. But circumstances seem to have compelled the drug smugglers to revert to Mizoram.
We had earlier questioned the leakages of drug consignments in the state. Some time ago, Assam police intercepted more than four kg of heroin worth Rs 25 crore in the international market at Khatkhati in Karbi Anglong district of Assam.
While the district SP said that the vehicle carrying the drugs was suspected to be from Manipur, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was graceful enough not to mention the name of our state. Two persons have been arrested and the drugs were found concealed inside the door panel of the driver seat.
This is not the first time, and Assam police continue to seize drugs and other psychotropic substances originating from Manipur or with a transit history of having passed through Manipur state.
On numerous occasions, Assam police had been able to seize drugs after intercepting trucks and other vehicles coming from Manipur.
In the state, police personnel were also caught red-handed with drugs and there are murmurs of the involvement of some police higher-ups in the drug trade of which the Chief Minister has been briefed.
In the past, groups of regular policemen or police commandos and even some army officers were caught with huge quantities of drugs and cases under the NDPS Act are still going on. Besides the regular police, specially designated units and wings join in the anti-drug campaign.
Just as the Centre has Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), the state has Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) under the Police Department and now there is the task force.
In his second term as the chief minister, N Biren formed an Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) just days after he was sworn in for the second time. He has even started announcing rewards for police units involved in large-scale seizure of drugs and arrests.
Decades ago, Manipur was just a transit point in drug smuggling originating from the infamous Golden Triangle, as it shares a 400-km-long border with Myanmar.
The Golden Triangle is an area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.
The Golden Triangle is commonly used more broadly to refer to an area of approximately 950,000 square kilometres that overlaps the mountains of the three adjacent countries.
Three decades ago, this region produced more than 70 per cent of all opium sold worldwide, most of it refined into heroin. Well, that is the basic background of the overall drug scenario.
The widespread poppy plantations and the home-grown drug manufacturing units in Manipur did not develop overnight.
There must certainly be patrons or powerful people behind the widespread poppy plantation just as there would be for the heavy traffic of drugs in recent times.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s War on Drugs campaign was marred by the infamous Lunkhosei Zou case in his first term and it still continues to haunt his anti-drug campaign.
Lhukhosei Zou was a political big-wig from whose residence a huge haul of drugs was seized. There was a big tamasha of charges and counter-charges flying around within the establishment itself. Somehow, he got himself acquitted by the court while a few of his minions were convicted.
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