Northeast region turning into transnational drug hub
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 28, 2025 -

THE recent report about busting of a tunnel in Mizoram sector of the Indo-Myanmar border, which was used for transnational transportation of drugs into India through the northeast region, indicates that the drug cartels have been exploiting the porous borders in the north eastern states as the primary routes to sustain the illegal drug trade.

Apart from the northeast region periodically hogging the limelight due to seizure of large quantities of psychotropic drugs in the states which share borders with Myanmar, student bodies and civil society organisations in the state have been accusing successive governments of lacking the political will to give exemplary punishment to the arrested drug peddlers as well as kingpins, thereby leading to suspicion that the smugglers enjoy political patronage.

Such claims are not without substance as there had been numerous instances of arrested drug peddlers walking free after only few days in police custody, implying reach and clout of the drug kingpins.

For the record, Manipur has had numerous cases related to seizure of drugs but barely any instance of the drug kingpins subjected to stringent punishment under the law of the land.

Amid failure by the government authorities to firmly tackle the menace of drugs and substance abuse, and the on-going unrest situation in Manipur, which many suspect is being fuelled by drug money, the disclosure about security forces discovering a tunnel used for bulk smuggling of drugs rings out the message that fool-proof security measures must be put in place along the border to effectively foil drug smuggling and prevent the northeast region from being turned into a haven for drug traders.

As per the report, which described the detection of the tunnel as shocking incident, smugglers resorted to constructing a tunnel, large enough for operation of a truck, to transport illegal drugs into India.

Gravity of the drug smuggling scenario could also be gauged from data of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which specified that since the beginning of the current financial year, the directorate has registered 36 cases of smuggling and illegal drug trafficking in the northeast; arrested 70 individuals, including seven women; seized over 231 kg of methamphetamine tablets, 16 kg of heroin, 1,375 kg of ganja (cannabis), and 3.7 kg of hydroponic weed, amounting to a total value of over Rs 355 crore; and impounded 32 vehicles, including 13 trucks, used in smuggling and transporting of illegal drugs.

Another concern raised by the DRI relates to smuggling of hydroponic weed, a type of marijuana cultivated in nutrient-rich water instead of soil, into the northeast via air passengers.

Increase in the volume of the illegal drug trading and discovery of the tunnel for transportation of contraband items, drugs in particular, from Myanmar to Mizoram, merit urgent intervention by the central government.

Taking into account that no state government can act beyond its geographical boundary, the centre must show a strong political will to address the issue of drugs in the region, which has already suffered for many years due to drug related issues, and destroyed not only lives of many people but has also caused serious fissures to the inter-state relationship.