GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday drove a road roller to crush seized drugs and psychotropic substances, while announcing that the state government would be "ruthless" in its fight against the menace.
Seized drugs worth Rs 472.51 crore will be destroyed across nine districts, with Sarma launching the disposal process at the 14th Assam Police Battalion ground in Daulasal, Nalbari district.
Addressing the gathering, he said the Centre-state joint approach would help track the illicit movement of drugs, identify history-sheeters, nab traffickers at the borders before they enter Assam, and build strong cases to prosecute them. "We will be ruthless in this fight against drugs. That’s a promise and warning," he said.
He said drugs and psychotropic substances worth Rs 3,227 crore had been seized and 3,300 cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in Assam over the past five years.
The chief minister said the trafficking of drugs — heroin and methamphetamine tablets — from Myanmar had been a matter of concern, as Assam was increasingly being used as a transit route.
He said the drugs first arrive in Mizoram and Manipur from Myanmar before being trafficked to Assam. From Assam, they are then trafficked to West Bengal and other parts of the country.
Responding to a query, Sarma said the drug problem could not be tackled merely by fencing the Myanmar border, as drugs could still be smuggled using drones and other methods, such as throwing packets across the border with the help of stones. He, however, said fencing would help check infiltration.
"The war against drugs goes beyond fencing. You need technology to intercept drones and trace where they are flown from. The strategies used by drug traffickers are much deeper than fencing," he said, adding: "Fencing gives you a physical barrier but you have to create barriers against drones and intercept movement of people. You also have to develop human intelligence."
Explaining why inter-state coordination is important, he said establishing forward and backward linkages — the origin and destination of a consignment — was crucial after the arrest of a trafficker. As these linkages extend beyond Assam, inter-state coordination was essential, he said.
Sarma said inter-state coordination was being strengthened under Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who regularly meets agencies involved in combating drug trafficking. "The inter-state understanding has improved. As the BJP has formed the government in Bengal, this will strengthen our cooperation with that state," he said.
The CM further added the Central government had been actively engaging with the authorities in Myanmar while strengthening border points in Mizoram and Manipur.
"I am sure that the war against drugs will get further intensified with the help of our international partners. Given the kind of intelligence and technology that Government of India now has, I am confident that we will be able to work much more effectively," Sarma said.
Citing one modus operandi adopted by drug traffickers, he said several of them had been arrested in the past while transporting drugs concealed beneath adhesive plasters on their limbs.
