Seizures On May 12, 2012 53370 strips of Actisun tablets, 43,740 strips of Respifed tablets and 41,070 strips of Actifed tablets were seized from the cargo section of Tulihal airport in Imphal. One drug baron based in Guwahati dispatched them with the help of the cooperative employees of Kingfisher and Indigo airlines. On July 3, 2012 32074 strips of Actiman tablets were seized from the airport. Interestingly, no official was interested in the booking, transportation and delivery at the airport despite the fact that this was a banned prescription drug. These tablets were booked at Delhi through Indian Airlines by a drug baron. On January 11, 2013 the special cell of police seized Respifed tablets valued at Rs.1.4 crore from the airport. Significantly no drug trafficker was arrested. The simple but unconvincing police explanation was that since the drug was dispatched using fictitious names it is not possible to make any arrests. On February 25, 2013 police commandos arrested six drug traffickers including Colonel Ajay Choudhury of the Indian army with pseudo ephedrime tablets valued at Rs.30 crore. On April 23,2013 police commandos arrested 11 police commandos with pseudo ephedrine valued at Rs.4 crore in Thoubal district. In the latest incident police arrested Hollal Haokip a jamadar in 8 Manipur and Lulun Haokip a rifleman in the same battalion with pseudo ephedrine tablets valued at Rs.20 crore. These personnel along with three other accomplices including two women were smuggling these prescription drugs to Burma when police intercepted them in Thoubal district.

In the past, Manipur had become the conduit for heroin smuggling from Burma to supply to the ever increasing drug abusers in the North East region of India. For all practical purposes the 396 km long border with Burma is un - policed. Besides this, hundreds of persons who claim to be tourists and traders converge at Moreh in Manipur everyday where there is a legalised border trade. But drug traffickers mingle with the innocent people here in the guise of innocent and innocuous tourists and small time traders. They return to Imphal with huge consignments of heroin. Hardcore addicts also rush to Moreh which is just 110 km away from Imphal to fetch heroin at comparatively low prices.

Bisheswor Nameirakpam, the founder leader of PLA, once told the Manipur Assembly when he became an MLA that the North East region is being flooded with drugs as a long term counter insurgency policy since the drug addicts will not dream of taking up arms.

On several occasions the drug traffickers had been nabbed along with packets of high quality heroin. The most common brand to be found here is Tiger which is considered to be the best in the region. Whenever these traffickers are arrested there are impromptu press conferences. The traffickers are paraded before the reporters and the confiscated heroin displayed. However scribes belatedly learnt that it was merely a ploy and that the staged press conferences are meant as bargaining chips. Within a short time, the seized heroin packs transmogrify into worthless chalk powder. Since there is no law against possessing chalk powder these traffickers are invariably released. The whole system is so corrupt that no inquiry is held as to why and how heroin worth millions of rupees had turned into chalk powder.

Use of Drugs Following the introduction of heroin in the early 1970s, drug use among local youth in Manipur took a new turn. Injecting heroin (locally known as “number 4”) soon took over from heroin smoking- a non-traditional form of opiate use in the State. Stringent laws and enforcement activities against heroin trafficking and peddling in the early 2000s in Manipur also resulted in another shift towards the vein puncturing habit of injecting other pharmaceutical products like dextropropoxyphene which is a synthetic pain reliever capsule meant only for oral use. Though treatment is possible for drug addiction, as for any other disease, universally accepted success rate is very low.

Some years before these dramas, armed police and paramilitary personnel were used in escorting truckloads of high quality marijuana to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other States. Manipur openly grows marijuana and poppy plants and the high quality marijuana is smuggled out to these big States to earn whopping profits. The personnel were shown to be on duty, but armed with the service guns they escorted the tarpaulin covered trucks which were said to be transporting military equipment. The officials along the highways extracted their pound of flesh from the personnel. However, on some occasions these personnel tried to bulldoze through the road blocks so that a few millions of rupees meant as bribes for the police and anti narcotics personnel could be pocketed for themselves. The betrayed anti narcotics and police personnel nabbed them. After the initial public and government outcry, the dust settled down rather quickly. It is on record that not a single member of the paramilitary personnel who were paid Rs.50,000 each per trip was ever booked. If they were incarcerated they might spill the beans and the involvement of the higher ups including some corrupt ministers might be exposed. In one instance some paramilitary personnel who had delivered two truckloads of marijuana to some place in West Bengal were having a sumptuous lunch at Siliguri with lots of costly drinks. One anti narcotics personnel had the temerity to intrude inside the room to demand his grease money. The infuriated personnel simply shot him dead with a service rifle.

Hundreds of persons who claim to be tourists and traders converge at Moreh in Manipur everyday where there is a legalised border trade.But drug traffickers mingle with the innocent people here in the guise of innocent and innocuous tourists and small time traders.

The drug scenario has changed in this region. The drug barons in Burma have started demanding prescription drugs for manufacturing more powerful and addictive drugs by adding some other ingredients and chemicals. Most of these prescription drugs had been banned in Manipur to check smuggling to Burma and abuse by the drug addicts. However drug traffickers of all hues including one ranking army officer procured these drugs from other parts of India for smuggling out to Burma.

Vulnerability Factors It is important to recognize that a wide range of structural and environmental factors, including underdevelopment, increases the vulnerability of the young people to drug use. Easy availability of drugs, stress arising from socio- political unrest and frustration because of the lack of employment opportunities for the growing educated youth mass in the State are often cited as the major causes of drug abuse and alcoholism a serious social disease.

They are earning profits of millions of rupees each trip. The new drugs are smuggled to Manipur for distribution to other NE States with many fancy names. Since the drug barons are expanding their markets in the region, they are selling these drugs are comparatively low prices. The drug addicts find that it is much cheaper to use these new drugs rather than heroin. As a result smuggling of heroin to this region had fizzled out. Drug barons who have been monopolising the drug business in Guwahati and Imphal have switched over to some other business including sale of these new drugs.

The few incidents of seizures of these prescription drugs while being smuggled to Burma are said to be the tip of the iceberg. Against one seizure, a few hundred packets of drugs are smuggled to Burma under the very nose of the authorities and agencies.It will be puerile and naive to say that only these police and paramilitary personnel are behind the drug smuggling. Highly placed sources are of the view that powerful politicians and high officials are backing these smugglers. It is plausible since without such patronage nobody would dare smuggle out drugs worth millions of rupees under the nose of the authorities. There is no fool who will kill the hen that lays golden eggs. As many palms are greased round the clock it is not surprising that nobody has thought of belling the cat.

Situation It has been estimated, there are about 40,000-50,000 drug addicts in Manipur of whom nearly half are injecting drug users (IDU). Cases of drug abuse is fast rising in the State with 12 per cent of drug addicts in the age group till 15 years, 31.32 per cent in the age group of 16-25 years and 55.88 percent in the age group of 25-35 years.

The future of the youth is doomed because of this rampant trade. But then Bisheswor Nameirakpam, the founder leader of PLA, once told the Manipur Assembly when he became an MLA that the North East region is being flooded with drugs as a long term counter insurgency policy since the drug addicts will not dream of taking up arms.

Kavita Laithangbam