IMPHAL: Security forces in Manipur have arrested five alleged drug peddlers, including a suspected key narcotics supplier and a woman, in separate anti-drug operations, while seizing substantial quantities of Myanmar-origin opium and brown sugar, officials said on Thursday.
A police official said that during a raid, a joint team of the Manipur Police and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Nengjatuan alias Tuanpi from a hotel in Churachandpur district, which shares a border with Mizoram and an unfenced international border with Myanmar.
The arrested individual is allegedly a major drug supplier and is wanted in multiple cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, registered by the NCB, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and the Manipur Police.
In another anti-narcotics operation conducted in and around Mantripukhri Bazar in Imphal East district, the security forces seized 3.66 kg of suspected opium, valued at around Rs 22 lakh, and arrested three alleged drug peddlers.
The arrested individuals were identified as Anil Das (75), Roshan Basnet (48), and Goma Karki (33), all residents of different districts of the state.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the seized contraband had originated from neighbouring Myanmar, which shares an approximately 400 km unfenced border with Manipur. Myanmar remains one of the world's largest producers of opium, particularly in its northern regions, including Kachin and Shan states.
The latest seizure marks yet another major crackdown on Myanmar-linked drug trafficking networks operating in Manipur over the past several months.
In the third operation, the Manipur Police arrested one Tinnei Thadou (52), a resident of the Sugnu area in the mountainous Chandel district, and recovered around 1.6 kg of suspected brown sugar, valued at more than Rs 1.5 crore, from her possession. The woman was arrested from the Songja Khopi village area in Churachandpur district. (IANS)
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