The news of poppy cultivation continuing in some sar areas of Assam, highlighted in Thursday’s edition of this newspaper, is an ominous sign for the state. A section of sar dwellers mustering the courage to indulge in illegal poppy farming despite the police destroying such illegal cultivation multiple times is indicative of clandestine money continuing to flow from illicit drug business to the settlements of immigrant settlers. Relentless efforts and intensified drive by the Assam Police have led to seizures of a huge consignment of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances over the past couple of years. Yet, many youths in the state have become drug addicts, pushing up the demand for such illegal substances. Mushrooming of poppy cultivation within the state, if unchecked, will ruin more families with young members falling prey to illegal drug peddlers and caught in the jaws of illicit business. The recurrence of illicit farming in sar areas cannot be seen to be an isolated development of gullible farmers replacing their paddy farming with poppy farming for more money. The development being part of a larger design to fund sleeper cells of jihadi and Islamic terrorist elements operating in some sar areas cannot be ruled out, as money from the illicit drug trade mostly goes to fund terrorist activities and the purchase of arms and ammunition by armed groups, which is described as narcoterrorism. Extending the police and administration action against illicit poppy cultivation in sar areas into deeper investigation on the money trail has become an urgent necessity to get to the bottom. This can be possible only when police presence and surveillance in sar areas are increased to ensure round-the-clock vigilance against poppy cultivation and drug peddling. The reports of drug rackets luring sar area farmers into poppy cultivation by giving them money and poppy seeds in Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri, and Goalpara, confirmed through police action of detecting the sites and destroying them for more than one and a half decades, are indicative of these rackets using remote sar areas as a poppy cultivation hotspot for long. In some cases, police found illicit poppy cultivation being concealed within another standing crop, which implies that farmers growing it are aware that it is illegal to grow poppy and that money and seeds being provided to them came from an illegal source. Through interrogation of the farmers involved, we can provide more leads about the drug traders and their modus operandi. Security agencies found that the destruction of illegal poppy cultivation does not have a direct economic impact on the growers, as the investment for it comes from drug rackets, and that is why the growers take the risk of growing it. For Traditional genuine loss of standing crops in a flood or erosion causes unmanageable loss as the entire investment from seeds, preparing the plot, fertiliser, pesticides, transplantation, and harvesting is to be borne by the farmers from their own pockets, except in specific schemes under which seeds are distributed by the agriculture department. Stepping up revenue intelligence in sar areas will help the administration identify farmers involved in illicit farming activities. That the destruction of cultivation alone is not a strong deterrent can be easily inferred from the continuation of illicit poppy cultivation in sar areas. Strong punitive action against those involved must follow, for which police must frame strong charge sheets in the court to prevent them from taking advantage of any legal loophole. The government reviewing the existing laws and making necessary amendments will go a long way in equipping law enforcement agencies with stronger legal weapons to curb criminal activities. Police and other law enforcement agencies developing reliable sources in sar areas is essential to strengthen intelligence against poppy cultivation, drug peddling, and other criminal activities. Anti-social elements exploit the weak police network in sar areas to carry on with their criminal activities. Police employing modern surveillance equipment such as drones can help the force detect illegal poppy cultivation but require adequate budgetary allocations to procure those. Using drones can also provide the police the advantage of expanding surveillance over a large area without physical presence. Poor connectivity in sar areas comes in the way of regular surveillance by law enforcement agencies by visiting the places under their jurisdiction, which can be overcome through the use of drone surveillance. Detection of poppy cultivation with drone surveillance is not easy and requires high-resolution cameras and chemical sensors, which the state government must consider while articulating a policy on police using drone surveillance against illicit poppy cultivation in the state and allocating budgetary resources for the purpose. Providing the police force additional budgetary support to undertake research work related to data generated through drone surveillance for converting it into actionable intelligence also needs a policy push. Assam Police can also tie up with the state universities and IIT Guwahati for research support for developing an effective scientific approach in this regard.