In Manipur, drugs worth over 500 crores have been seized from a house that is owned by a woman from Myanmar. As per reports, a major haul of drugs, including 54 kgs of brown sugar and 154 kgs of Ice Meth were seized from a house in the Moreh town of Manipur.
The house is owned by a woman who is married to a Chinese national, as per the ANI report. The accused woman is presently suspected to be in Mandalay in Myanmar.
The drugs were seized by the troops of the Assam Rifles. It is notable here that Manipur, though tiny in size and population compared to the other states in India, is one of the worst affected states in drug trafficking and consumption. In November 2020, drugs worth 2300 crores were seized by Manipur police and Assam Rifles. The drugs included over 500 kgs of brown sugar that were smuggled from Myanmar. Drugs are seized frequently and on several occasions, the traffickers are even armed.
Drug trafficking is also linked with the rise of insurgency in the Northeastern state. Manipur’s proximity to the “Golden Triangle” of illegal opium production, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar makes it a gateway for illegal drugs. A report in Deccan Chronicle had explained how the recent attack on the 46 Assam Rifles convoy that killed CO Viplav Tripathi and his family may also have been linked to the anti-drug operations spearheaded by Assam Rifles in the area.
On November 27, the Delhi Police had arrested one Md Kasim Ali, the kingpin of an interstate drug racket who was responsible for smuggling heroin consignments from Manipur to Guwahati, Siliguri and then different parts of the country.