SSB seizes over 325 kg ganja in Arunachal Pradesh, one arrested
Kolkata/Itanagar: The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), in a coordinated operation with the Arunachal Pradesh Police, seized nearly 325.5 kg of cannabis (Ganja) from the West Kameng district of the state on Friday.
The operation was carried out by troops of the 61 Battalion SSB, Bhairabkhunda. One person has been arrested in this connection. The seizure comes weeks after the Assam Police seized over 307 kg of ganja near the state’s border with Arunachal Pradesh.
According to officials, Arunachal Pradesh has now turned into a major producer of narcotics like Opium and Cannabis (Ganja). This illicit cultivation takes place in remote parts of the state. Cultivators and traffickers believe that the terrain and difficult landscape will leave their operations undetected.
However, security agencies have launched a drive to prevent the production and trafficking of narcotics.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has also directed all agencies to remain alert towards the movement of narcotics through states in northeastern India that are close to the infamous Golden Triangle. This is part of the Government’s drive against narcotics as part of its Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.
The state government in Arunachal Pradesh has also launched a crackdown on the cultivation of illegal drugs. The state has so far destroyed 18.587 acres of illegal poppy (opium) and 64.59 acres of cannabis cultivation in the state, Chief Secretary Manish Kumar Gupta said recently.
“Such operations are crucial to prevent the consumption of narcotics in the strategic border state as well as their transportation elsewhere. This illegal activity is related to crime and even insurgency. There is evidence that insurgent groups promote such trade for profit. It is also a way of recruiting the youth from such states by engaging them in this trade,” an official said.
Central Armed Police Forces and paramilitary forces like the SSB and Assam Rifles are now assisting local authorities in states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura to tackle the menace of narcotics.
“There is better coordination between the state police and central forces now. Intelligence networks have been created, and there are regular crackdowns on the trafficking of narcotics. Thousands of kg of narcotics – both cultivated locally and smuggled from across the border have been seized over the last few months. This action will continue,” the official said.
Groups involved in the racket are also being identified, and members are being apprehended during the operations.