New Delhi, March 4: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has begun streamlining its organisational machinery in the Northeast and launched a new drive against smuggling of narcotics into the region from Myanmar. A source said the NCB had realised that greater co-operation was required with Myanmar and the state governments of the Northeast to enhance its efficacy.
“The most significant development in recent times has been the understanding with Myanmar on sharing of intelligence regarding the groups operating in the region and the routes frequently used by them to smuggle in drugs. In addition, there will now be more frequent meetings between the two sides at various levels ” he said. Following the launch of the “look-east policy” in the early 1990s, India signed a drug-control agreement with Myanmar in 1994. This facilitated interaction between both sides on a regular basis.
Myanmar, Laos and Thailand form the infamous “Golden Triangle”, which accounts for the bulk of the narcotics consumed around the world.
Large quantities of drugs, mostly opium, are smuggled into India from Myanmar, which has an extensive porous border with Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
NCB officials said the level of smuggling had not changed much over the years, but there is concern over the high influx of synthetic drugs like amphetamine from across the Indo-Myanmar border.
“Most amphetamine laboratories are located along the Myanmar-China border and in and around Mandalay. So we can do little to bust these production centres unless Myanmar decides to act tough,” one of them said.
Unlike heroin, which is mostly produced in mobile laboratories in Myanmar, the production of amphetamine is dependent on the supply of ephedrine from India.
The finished product is first smuggled into the Northeast and then sent to other parts of the country.
Apart from greater co-operation with Myanmar, the NCB has drawn up plans to set up co-ordination committees in all states of the region. At present, there are two such committees, which regularly organises meetings between various law-enforcing agencies.
Apart from cross-border smuggling, the NCB is concerned over the popularity of ganja cultivation in some inaccessible areas of the region.
“We have launched an anti-ganja campaign, but much remains to be done. ,” the NCB official said.