Presence of the elusive drug barons Unidentified or undisclosed?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 18, 2013 -

Huge seizure, no doubt.

But the intriguing part is the failure to nail the Big Fishes.

Political clout and money power at work? Or just plain inefficiency? Or a thought process that just seizing the contraband items is more than enough? Within a span of a little over 30 days, another huge seizure of drugs has been reported.

After the January 11 drug seizure at Tulihal airport, estimated to cost Rs 1.4 Crore, another consignment of drugs worth Rs 1.3 Crore has been seized.

Good work, no doubt.

But look closer and the common script is unmistakable.

The owner or owners of the two huge drug consignments are yet to be known or is it a case of not being disclosed? A cover up job? Speculative questions no doubt, but important nevertheless.

The presence of a huge network of drug barons cannot be written off.

Many years back, a prominent political leader who at one point of time was even the Finance Minister of the State was arrested at Guwahati along with a huge consignment of drugs.

One man arrested, but no further developments to show that a drug cartel or a network of drug smugglers exists.

More than a failure of the law enforcing agencies.

A failure too on the part of the media to follow up the story then and conduct some hard nosed investigative reporting.

To be brutally frank, the media in Manipur has still miles to go, in so far as hard investigation is concerned.

At the most what the fourth estate here has been able to do is to follow the leads provided by their respected sources to a certain limit.

Lack of resources and lack of expertise.

And admitting this is perhaps the first step towards bettering ourselves.

As things stand at the moment, the latest seizure, this time from near the NRL oil pump at Mantripukhri is most likely to go the way of the January 11 case.

Drugs seized but owners, unidentified or unknown or undisclosed.

Drug cartels or a vast network of drug barons cannot exist without some sort of a patronage, particularly political patronage and the geo-position of Manipur makes it the right candidate for such a cartel or network to flourish.

Big money, political clout and influence all go hand in hand with any nefarious dealings, particularly drugs.

So far no big fishes have been netted in connection with drug smuggling in Manipur.

Why ? The reasons could be many, but in most probability it could be political patronage.

This is where the involvement of the influential and powerful personalities comes into play.

Rounding up the local drug pusher is fine, but this is the tip of the iceberg.

Money can and do buy loyalty and silence.

There is no reason to believe that the 'code of silence' has not infiltrated into the system.

The recent disbandment of the Special Intelligence Unit, after the huge drug seizure at Tulihal, has only gone to add 'substance' to this belief and suspicion.

From Morphine to Heroin to now Tablets, which come under different names and colours and sizes, the society of Manipur has certainly traversed the drug route.

Generations of youth have always been at the danger of being entrapped in the vicious cycle of drug dependency.

Crack down on the drug cartel.

For this Manipur needs upright and honest officials.

Throw out the political leaders who are suspected to have anything to do with the drug cartel.

Easier said than done, but a beginning has to be made, somewhere.

For all its shortcomings, the media in Manipur too need to walk the talk and indulge in some hard nosed investigation.

Risky no doubt, but a job that needs to be done.

It is not only reporting news, but also about taking care of the upcoming generations.

An issue which have social, political and economic implications.