Northeast utilised as a route for the importation of drugs from Bangladesh and Myanmar: Manik Saha

North-eastern states of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram are being used as a corridor to smuggle drugs into the country by drug traffickers in Myanmar and also to send the narcotics substances to Bangladesh, chief minister Manik Saha said on Monday.

Tripura serves as a route for drug smugglers, as is well known. Drugs are transported from Myanmar to Tripura, then to Bangladesh, via Assam and Mizoram. After returning from the NEC meeting held in Guwahati on Sunday, Saha spoke to reporters in Agartala. “Home minister Amit Shah stressed at the Northeast Council meeting that the northeast should not be used as a corridor for drug trafficking as arms and ammunitions might come with the drugs,” Saha said.

According to Saha, Tripura has asked the Centre for help in bolstering the presence of the Border Security Force (BSF) and establishing checkpoints along the Assam and Mizoram border regions. Additionally, we requested that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) open a branch in Tripura. Additionally, Saha stated, the NEC meeting covered topics such as adequate border fencing, lighting, drone technology, cameras, satellite imagery software, etc.

Amitabh Ranjan, the director general of police in Tripura, claimed that there has been a change in the country’s drug trade from marijuana to synthetic substances like yaba pills.
The first narcotics coordination meeting is scheduled to take place later this month, according to the senior police officer. The Tripura Police will participate. Anti-narcotic task groups will be established, he said, to monitor the involvement of the syndicates.