North-East India: Paradise Lost To Narcotic Tsunami? – Analysis

In May 2023, violent ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur, the northeastern state bordering Myanmar. The conflict was sparked by one group’s push to be officially recognized as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian Constitution. The violence quickly spread across large parts of the state and, within nearly a year after the initial clashes, around 220 people had lost their lives. Over 1,100 people were injured and approximately 60,000 were forced to leave their homes.

Journalists have often reported on the cultivation of poppy and drug trafficking from Myanmar to India, a trend the home ministry reports have confirmed periodically, as well. The government admits that drug use in North-East India is a “serious problem”. However, new issues, such as drug syndicates and smugglers working with Nigerian cartels, have made the situation even more complex and difficult to control, according to The Diplomat.

Advanced Monitoring Systems
India’s northeastern states, often called the ‘Seven Sisters’, have long been connected to cross-border drug trafficking. This trade is part of the ‘Golden Triangle’, with Myanmar, where Myanmar is a key player in the global drug market. Because of this, the Indian police have been given the authority to use government rules and laws to crack down on drug trafficking in the region.

Regular ‘vulnerability mapping’ is done along the 1,642-kilometre border with Myanmar to improve surveillance using electronic equipment. In some northeastern states, long-range reconnaissance, observation tools and battlefield surveillance radars have also been set up.

Recently, the government banned the Free Movement Regime (FMR) of people across the border. On April 24 this year, the security forces seized heroin worth $418,000 from traffickers in a border district of Manipur, highlighting the serious drug problem in North-East India. Under the rules, people belonging to the hill tribes in either India or Myanmar living within 16 kilometres of the border can cross over with a border pass. This pass is usually valid for a year and allows them to stay for up to two weeks per visit.

In the past, India’s North-East was known for high rates of drug addiction, HIV/AIDS and insurgency. However, a 2016 report warned that the region could face an even bigger problem if not addressed quickly. At the same time, another study clearly stated that the drug problem in the North-East was getting out of hand.

Back in 2014, the drug problem in the region was so widespread that reports estimated there were 45,000 to 50,000 drug addicts in Manipur alone, with nearly half using intravenous methods. The situation has only worsened since then.

A recent study found that young people in the state are using a wide variety of drugs. According to The Diplomat, heroin is the most commonly abused (54.3%), followed by opioids (47.1%) and methamphetamine (41.2%). The second most commonly abused drugs in Manipur are cannabis (32.8%), sedatives (27.5%) and inhalants (17.4%). The study also revealed that a worrying 48.6% of respondents used needles and syringes for injectable drugs.

Heroin Trade
Heroin first appeared in Churachandpur district, located in the hills of Manipur near the north-west border of Myanmar, in 1983. It quickly became a problem among young people aged 15 to 30, and, soon, the issue spread to other nearby states. A 2019 report from the government reveals that opioid use is 22.1% in Arunachal Pradesh, 25.67% in Mizoram, 25.22% in Nagaland, 14.22% in Manipur and 2.9% in Assam. This information was shared in a report published by The Diplomat.

It is widely recognized that drug production in Myanmar, including dangerous synthetic drugs, is a major threat to Indian security. The ongoing political instability and near-civil war conditions in Myanmar have created an ideal situation for drug cartels in the Wa and Shan states—regions in Myanmar known for being major areas of drug production and trafficking—to thrive. India’s North-East serves as a key route for distributing drugs produced in Myanmar’s Wa and Shan states. In these areas, druglords, insurgent groups and foreign partners collaborate to run poppy fields and drug laboratories.

The response from state governments in North-East India has been inconsistent, while the Centre’s efforts to combat drug trafficking have been sporadic and irregular. Before the BJP came to power in 2014, efforts to fight drug trafficking were not very effective across the states. Drug seizures, which show the scale of the problem, were rare and infrequent.

However, the Narendra Modi government aimed to tackle cross-border drug trafficking more effectively and stepped up its efforts significantly in 2022. After a high-level meeting in Guwahati, Assam, in October 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that, as part of its ‘Drug-Free India’ campaign, around 40,000 kg of narcotics were destroyed across the North-East.

The government reported that its anti-drug agencies destroyed about 150,000 kg of narcotics, which was double the target set by the ministry. The government pledged to use drones, artificial intelligence and satellite mapping to locate and manage areas where opium is grown. It also promised to thoroughly investigate the entire drug supply chain—from source to destination—and to dismantle the entire network.

While highlighting its achievements in the fight against drugs, the Modi government made a political point by comparing drug seizures during its term (2014-2022) with those made under the Congress-led UPA government (2006-2013). The Modi government aimed to show that it registered 3,172 cases against drug traffickers between 2014 and 2022, compared to just 1,257 cases during the UPA rule from 2006 to 2013.

Additionally, the total number of arrests increased by 260%—from 1,362 during 2006-2013 to 4,888 between 2014 and 2022. In terms of drug seizures, 152,000 kg worth $91.9 million was confiscated during 2006-2013, while anti-drug agencies and the security forces seized 330,000 kg worth $296.8 million in multiple raids between 2014 and 2022.

The government has declared a ‘zero tolerance policy’ on drug trafficking, targeting both ‘dirty money’ and ‘organized mafia’ that could harm the country’s economy and national security. Most state governments in the region conduct occasional operations against cross-border drug trade and report large seizures of various narcotics. However, this shows that the drug problem is still far from being resolved.