Assam: NCB Guwahati Zonal Unit Busts Cross-Border Drug Ring

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Narcotics Control Bureau’s Guwahati Zonal Unit dismantled a transnational narcotics network that had been operating through the Myanmar–Manipur–Assam route after acting on intelligence gathered over several weeks.

Officers had traced the movement of a heroin consignment that was being moved through remote forest stretches in Manipur before being transported by small motorboats along the Barak River to avoid routine security checks.

On December 1, 2025, NCB personnel intercepted a locally made motorboat on the Barak River near Silchar and arrested two individuals identified as Jacob Hmar of Diger Fulertal in Lakhipur and Melodi Hmar of Tupidar Forest in the Cachar district. A detailed search of the vessel uncovered 6.149 kg of high-quality heroin packed in 530 soap cases and concealed under layers of bamboo. Investigators estimated the value of the drug haul at around Rs 12.5 crore in the drug market.

Initial findings suggested that the contraband had originated in Myanmar and travelled through forest corridors in Manipur before being routed towards the Hmarkhawlien–Fulertal–Lakhipur belt. Officials noted that the traffickers had deliberately chosen river routes to evade checkpoints, surveillance systems, and security posts, reflecting a growing shift in trafficking patterns across the region.

The interception was carried out with assistance from the 147th Battalion of the CRPF, Silchar, and crucial backing from Silchar Police. NCB also recorded a steady rise in enforcement activities across the Northeast in recent years. The agency handled 19 NDPS cases in 2023, making 58 arrests and seizing 18 kg of methamphetamine and 7 kg of heroin valued at Rs 30 crore. Following the establishment of the Northeastern Regional Headquarters in September 2023 and the creation of new zonal units in Agartala, Itanagar, and Siliguri, operations intensified considerably.

In 2024, NCB registered 25 cases, arrested 63 individuals, and confiscated 105 kg of methamphetamine and 9 kg of heroin worth Rs 100 crore. By 2025, up to the present date, the bureau reported 43 cases, 93 arrests, and seizures exceeding 530 kg of methamphetamine and 31 kg of heroin amounting to nearly Rs 487 crore. Assam alone accounted for 14 cases, 31 arrests, and significant recoveries of methamphetamine and heroin valued at Rs 105 crore this year.

The NCB’s North Eastern Region further strengthened collaboration with drug law enforcement agencies, state police forces, and central armed police units to bolster enforcement capacity.

The agency urged the public to assist in combating drug trafficking by reporting information anonymously to MANAS, the National Narcotics Helpline, on 1933, assuring complete confidentiality of callers’ identities.

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