Noting the announcement of the DGP Drugs : Now go for the big fishes

This is perhaps the most encouraging piece of words that have come and gives substance to the tom tommed War on Drugs campaign launched by the BJP Government after it came to power here in 2017. This also falls in line with the poser raised by The Sangai Express numerous times in this column. ‘Efforts on to identify drug financiers’ is the line maintained by DGP Rajiv Singh while interacting with media persons on September 27. The occasion could not have been more opportune either, coming as it did when the State police disposed 332.8 kilogramme of drugs seized from different parts of the State during the War on Drugs campaign. Nailing a few of the drug barons would be the icing on the cake of the campaign and it was with a reason why the need to go beyond just arresting the petty drug pushers and couriers was sounded many times here. One big fish who  was netted was the infamous Lhoukhosei Zou but for reasons best known to then BJP led Government a higher Court was not approached when the said man was released by a lower Court. Manipur did witness the ruckus and the war of words that followed after his release but the State Government did not go in for an appeal to a higher Court. This was some years back and fast forward to September 27, 2025 and the DGP has now come forward to assert that efforts are on to identify the hands behind the large scale drug smuggling racket in the State. The police may start with the case of some police personnel who were arrested at Pallel some time back while transporting over 1.3 kilograms of heroin and 9 kilograms of WY tablets. This was in  January of 2023 and in 2022 a Head Constable of Churachandpur police was held with over 2 Kgs of heroin. Just two examples that come to mind at the moment and perhaps these two cases may give Manipur police the right starting point, for there have been no follow up actions following these arrests. The State Government too had gone to town trumpeting that so and so villagers including one or two headmen have been arrested for poppy cultivation, but as pointed out numerous times in this column,  it never went beyond the arrests of some tillers of the soil. No serious efforts could be seen of the Government tackling with basic questions such as who financed the poppy cultivation. Who paid the tillers of the soil to  plant poppy ? Who buys the harvested poppy plants ? Who takes them away ? These are questions which any responsible Government should have dealt with, but it has remained just questions all these years. Now with the DGP announcing that efforts are on to identify the drug financiers, the War on Drugs campaign should mean something more than just a slogan.
The task ahead is mammoth and this is why efforts are needed, much more than merely coining some catchy slogans. It is also interesting to note that after Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023, the drug route also seems to have changed with Mizoram featuring prominently in drugs seizure cases. Earlier it used to be Manipur and Mizoram and this very fact should throw some light on how the drug cartels operate.   For the moment, the State police should concentrate on the earlier cases and try to see who were behind the drugs being transported. It is unthinkable that a few police- men, or a few drug smuggler would have had the financial muscle and the influence to try and attempt to smuggle drugs worth crores of rupees. It is the hand behind the huge sum involved that should be nailed. New Delhi too should acknowledge that the huge quantity of drugs that are being routed through Manipur and Mizoram are destined for other parts of the country. No guarantee that the drugs would not make its way from the dingy streets and shady by lanes of cities in other parts of the country to university campuses. The reach of the drug cartels should never be under estimated and it can affect everyone. Bust the drug ring. Go beyond the petty drug pushers and couriers and try to unmask the big fishes. The Golden Triangle is near, very near to the North East States of India and obviously the druglords would be looking to broaden their market.