A coordinated push against narcotics smuggling and illegal weapons in India's Northeast delivered a major haul on Friday, with security forces recovering drugs worth roughly Rs 82.5 crore across two districts and detaining several people linked to an armed outfit in a separate raid.
Assam Rifles columns operating under the Army's Spear Corps teamed up with the Central Reserve Police Force and state police to carry out simultaneous searches in Jiribam district of Manipur and Sribhumi district of Assam. Acting on specific intelligence, the teams recovered 10.891 kg of brown sugar estimated to be worth close to Rs 80 crore, along with roughly 14,000 Yaba tablets valued at nearly Rs 2.5 crore. Six individuals were apprehended in connection with the two seizures.
A statement from the Spear Corps described the exercise as an example of close coordination between different agencies, aimed squarely at breaking up trafficking rings and the illegal supply routes used to move drugs through the region.
Arms recovered, three held over extortion links in Imphal East
In a separate operation, Assam Rifles personnel working alongside Manipur Police carried out an intelligence-based search in Imphal East district that turned up six firearms. Follow-up raids in the Keishampat and Charangpat localities then led to the arrest of three individuals identified as active cadres of the United National Liberation Front (Koireng), or UNLF (K). The Army said the trio was suspected of ties to an extortion racket. Officials described the combined effort as part of a broader push to dismantle illegal weapons and extortion networks active in the state.
Weakened militant groups trying to regroup, says official
A senior security official said outfits that had been degraded by earlier counter-insurgency action are now attempting to rebuild themselves through extortion and fresh recruitment drives. The same official pointed to narcotics flowing in from across the Myanmar border as a key revenue stream for these groups, noting that consignments of brown sugar and Yaba are commonly smuggled in from Myanmar, where several militant outfits with Northeast links maintain bases.
Crackdown tied to the government's anti-drug drive
The seizures come as the Centre continues to push its 'Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan', under which enforcement agencies have been told to step up surveillance and action against trafficking networks. Security officials maintain that taking illegal arms and drugs off the streets remains central to restoring calm in Manipur and denying space to criminal and militant networks. The Army and Assam Rifles are expected to keep backing civil authorities as operations continue against the movement of illegal weapons and narcotics across the Northeast.
