Cross-border drug networks
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Perhaps this is the first time an individual has been arrested for routing drug money to a foreign country (Myanmar) from the soil of Manipur. It was reported that a woman, a resident of New Lamka, Churachandpur, involved in sending huge amounts of money to suspected beneficiaries of drug trades in Myanmar had been arrested. This is indeed a breakthrough. At the same time, the arrest evokes a number of questions with deep implications. Is the arrested woman a middleman ? Is she a member of a drug cartel? Is she a critical node in a far-reaching and transnational drug network? What is the modus operandi of these drug cartels and their networks? All these questions cannot go unanswered if the government’s war on drugs must achieve its goal. Let’s up hope law enforcing agencies and investigation agencies thoroughly investigate the case of the woman from Churachandpur arrested for routing drug money to Myanmar and take the case to its desired and logical end. Having said this, we cannot help asking if this case of routing drug money to a foreign country is just the tip of iceberg. While the woman from Churachandpur is perhaps the first case of arrest made for routing drug money to Myanmar, there have been numerous reports of arrest of women for smuggling drugs which implies that the lucrative drug trade is no longer restricted to males. There have been cases of arrest of husbands and wives either separately or together. It is quite disturbing and a matter of grave concern that there have been continuous reports of seizure of contraband drugs of several types and colours in different parts of the country. In most of these cases, the drugs either originated from Manipur or passed through the state or the drug smugglers are residents of Manipur. If one collates all such reports, a very disturbing picture emerges; a grim picture of Manipur being a very convenient hotspot and/or route for illicit drug trafficking. International watch dogs on drugs trade have already affirmed that Manipur is the opium producer for the infamous Golden Triangle.
Given its proximity to the Golden Triangle, drug trafficking particularly heroin is no longer a local trade. In fact, it is a multi-national, cross-border trade as is evident in the arrest of the woman from Churachandpur for routing drug money to Myanmar. Official records say that the crude produce of poppy grown in Manipur is smuggled out to Golden Triangle through the porous Indo-Myanmar border. It is just a matter of an hour or two from the cultivation site to cross the border from where the yield/consignment could reach clandestine laboratories in Golden Triangle where heroin is manufactured with different brand names like Tiger and Cobra. As if smuggling is not enough, some enterprising smugglers walked the extra mile of setting up drug manufacturing factories in the state as testified by the busting of illegal drugs manufacturing units at Lilong and Churachandpur a few years back. Till some years back, Manipur only served as a transit route for smuggling drugs from the infamous Golden Triangle to mainland India and elsewhere. But today, poppy plantations on commercial scale and clandestine drug manufacturing units have become an ugly reality in the state. When the main raw material (opium/poppy) is cultivated across vast hill ranges within the state, emergence of factories which run on this raw material is only a natural corollary. Before such well equipped factories start manufacturing drugs on industrial scale on the soil of Manipur, the government and all stakeholders need to act with a firm determination on war-footing. The menace of drug is often all pervasive and disastrous. Apart from draining the state’s economy, it can corrupt an entire generation and destroy the very soul and spirit of a nation. If the seizure of huge consignment of drugs in the past three/four years was any indication, we fear, some well connected and influential drug cartels are thriving in the state. It is these drug cartels which the government and its agencies must deal with a strong hand and firm conviction. Each and every single case related to drugs or poppy must be investigated to the very bottom in order to identify the drug dealers, their modus operandi and dismantle their transnational network. Only then, the war on drugs can deliver positive results.
Given its proximity to the Golden Triangle, drug trafficking particularly heroin is no longer a local trade. In fact, it is a multi-national, cross-border trade as is evident in the arrest of the woman from Churachandpur for routing drug money to Myanmar. Official records say that the crude produce of poppy grown in Manipur is smuggled out to Golden Triangle through the porous Indo-Myanmar border. It is just a matter of an hour or two from the cultivation site to cross the border from where the yield/consignment could reach clandestine laboratories in Golden Triangle where heroin is manufactured with different brand names like Tiger and Cobra. As if smuggling is not enough, some enterprising smugglers walked the extra mile of setting up drug manufacturing factories in the state as testified by the busting of illegal drugs manufacturing units at Lilong and Churachandpur a few years back. Till some years back, Manipur only served as a transit route for smuggling drugs from the infamous Golden Triangle to mainland India and elsewhere. But today, poppy plantations on commercial scale and clandestine drug manufacturing units have become an ugly reality in the state. When the main raw material (opium/poppy) is cultivated across vast hill ranges within the state, emergence of factories which run on this raw material is only a natural corollary. Before such well equipped factories start manufacturing drugs on industrial scale on the soil of Manipur, the government and all stakeholders need to act with a firm determination on war-footing. The menace of drug is often all pervasive and disastrous. Apart from draining the state’s economy, it can corrupt an entire generation and destroy the very soul and spirit of a nation. If the seizure of huge consignment of drugs in the past three/four years was any indication, we fear, some well connected and influential drug cartels are thriving in the state. It is these drug cartels which the government and its agencies must deal with a strong hand and firm conviction. Each and every single case related to drugs or poppy must be investigated to the very bottom in order to identify the drug dealers, their modus operandi and dismantle their transnational network. Only then, the war on drugs can deliver positive results.