A string of coordinated enforcement actions over two days has underscored the seriousness of the narcotics challenge in Manipur, with security agencies seizing heroin consignments from two districts and dismantling a large area of illegal poppy cultivation.
On January 19, security personnel arrested a 65-year-old man, identified as Hriili Kaihrii, at the Phougakchao Ikhai Bazar checkpoint in Bishnupur district. Kaihrii, a resident of Mayangkhang Khunou in Kangpokpi district, was intercepted under the jurisdiction of Phougakchao Ikhai police station. A search led to the recovery of eight soap cases containing suspected heroin powder weighing approximately 94 grams.
A day earlier, on January 18, Manipur Police apprehended another individual in connection with drug trafficking in Imphal West district. Md Ajmir Hussain, 39, a resident of Chingdong Leikai in Jiribam district, was arrested from the Tengdongyan area under Sekmai police station. Police said he was allegedly carrying 310 grams of heroin No. 4, a highly refined and addictive variant of the drug.
Beyond intercepting traffickers, authorities also moved against the production of narcotics at the source. On January 19, a joint operation involving security forces, the forest department, officials from the Narcotics Affairs Bureau and an executive magistrate was carried out at Dampi under Sangaikot police station in Churachandpur district. During the drive, around 22 acres of illicit poppy cultivation were uprooted and destroyed.
Officials said three temporary huts found at the cultivation site were set ablaze, while 10 samples of poppy plants along with pods were seized for evidentiary purposes. The coordinated actions, they added, reflect a stepped-up effort to disrupt the entire narcotics supply chain, from cultivation to trafficking, as the state grapples with the social and security fallout of the drug menace.
