Manipur police destroys seized drugs

A total of 330.813 kg of various types of narcotic substances including 181.687 kg seized by Manipur police and other government agencies from across the state were destroyed in Imphal on Saturday.
The illegal narcotic drugs were destroyed by burning at the Shija Common Bio Medical Waste Treatment facility in Lamdeng in Imphal West district, the police said.
The disposed items included 6.001 kg of heroin powder, 86.871 kg of brown sugar, 22.128 kg of WY tablets, 36.079 kg Pseudoephedrine tablets, 181.687 kg of Ganja and other illegal narcotic drugs.
“The disposal was carried out under strict supervision to ensure compliance with legal and environmental protocols at the designated waste treatment facility,” the police officials said.
DGP Rajiv Singh and other top officials of the state police department were present while destroying the narcotic substances as part of a special fortnight drive for disposal of seized narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
The narcotic substances destroyed on Saturday were seized through vigilance, alertness and dedication of the district police and NAB.
“Other security agencies are also involved in this operation and we as a united force are working on this,” DGP said.
Most of the drugs destroyed today were seized from Tengnoupal, Thoubal, Senapati, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, and other places, the DGP said, while talking to the reporters on the sideline of the event.
Rajiv Singh stated that there were some problems in the last two and a half years where the drive against drugs suffered a setback in those years because of violence.
“But now with some semblance of peace coming in and people cooperating with us, we have been able to catch a lot of drugs”, Singh said.
The DGP asserted that the northeast in general and Manipur in particular were facing the problems of drugs and said that “we take it very seriously and we have been carrying out drives in various forms to catch all these contraband items and various forms of drugs and psychotropic substances.
The state police and security forces with the active cooperation of the other pertinent agencies were conducting raids in all parts of the state and quite successful in recovering a lot of drugs, he said.
He said that Manipur police were in touch with other counterparts including Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram in cracking down against the drug trafficking and combating the drug menace in the country.
“We are making a combined effort because many times it is seen that these persons who are indulging in this illegal trade have inter or intrastate connections also,” he said.
Singh said many of the arrested individuals in connection with drugs and contraband items were found to be couriers and most of the time security forces were able to catch the courier only.
“We are making with our best efforts to identify the network, people who are financing them, people who are trying to take advantage,” he added.
The DGP said that under the initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and directives of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the state police were also in touch with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) while dealing with the illegal drugs.
“The joint officials have regular meetings and some important cases are handed over to NCB,” he said.
The DGP then appealed to the general public to pass, if they have, any information regarding people who are indulging in illegal drug trade or are transporting or doing in this network.
“We will keep your identity confidential. We are committed to eradicate all these things,” Singh added.
When asked about the worth of the said drugs that was disposed of, DGP said that it could not be calculated because the market value was something else.
“When you get it, the price is something else. And by giving the worth of those drugs, actually it is somewhat encouraging some people to indulge into that. So we generally avoid giving the worth,” he said.