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Among the Northeast states, Tripura accounts for the highest destruction and the second-largest seizure of narcotic items, police said Monday citing central data, without specifying the agency.
“During 2023, a total of 245 cases under NDPS Act have been registered and more than 373 accused persons have been arrested so far (till May 2023). During the period, narcotic items worth more than Rs 70 crore have been seized. Narcotic items worth more than Rs 12.5 crore have been destroyed till May 2023,” a statement issued by Assistant Inspector-General (Law and Order) Jyotishman Das Chowdhury said. It also said that 562 cases were registered and around 760 people were arrested for drug-related crimes in 2022. Narcotics items worth over Rs 263 crore were seized last year.
Police regularly conduct synergy checking on the national highways, state highways and arterial roads to stop drug trafficking, the statement said, adding that frequent raids and surprise drives against cannabis also take place in the state.
The BJP government has continued its crackdown on drugs since it first came to power in 2018. Biplab Deb, who became the first BJP chief minister, had raised the slogan of Nasha-Mukt Tripura as one of the party’s prime agendas against the CPM-led Left Front government. He has been vocal about maintaining good India-Bangladesh relationships through a crackdown on drugs.
Cannabis and other banned drugs are part of an economy of over Rs 1,500 crore, his administration claimed, adding that the drugs were earlier smuggled to Bangladesh.
His successor, Chief Minister Manik Saha, said after joining 70th North Eastern Council plenary meeting at Guwahati in October last year that Tripura was being used as a “corridor” for drug trafficking from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Recent BSF reports have suggested that the smuggling of cannabis has come down but that the use of synthetic drugs like yaba tablets has risen.
Police appealed to the public to dial the toll-free number 112 to share information about narcotics and assured that the identity of informants would be kept confidential.
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