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Drugs worth ₹1,430 crore seized, 9,309 arrested in last 2 years in Assam: DGP
The police also destroyed the cultivation of opium on over 400 acres of land and the cultivation of cannabis on nearly 20 acres of land in various districts
Assam police have seized drugs worth ₹1,430 cores and arrested 9,309 suspected drug traffickers since May 2021, state director general of police (DGP) GP Singh informed on Twitter recently.
As per the information provided by Singh, drugs worth over ₹1,430.22 crore were seized in Assam with the registration of 5,580 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and 9,309 suspected drug traffickers have been arrested since 2021, including 26 habitual traffickers.
Amongst the other seizures of narcotics, police recovered 239 kgs of heroin, 71,902 kgs ganja, 283 kgs opium, 98.68 lakh psychotropic tablets, 4.78 lakh cough syrup bottles, 214 kgs cannabis, and 40 kgs cocaine, according to the DGP.
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The police also destroyed the cultivation of opium on over 400 acres of land and the cultivation of cannabis on nearly 20 acres of land in various districts, the DGP informed.
Singh thanked Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for this success. “Under the leadership of Hon’ble CM Shri @himantabiswa Sir, @assampolice launched & is continuing with its massive crackdown on the drug trafficking menace. We remain committed to completely dismantling the drug trafficking networks,” Singh wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
Talking to HT on Saturday, Singh said, “We are relentless in our pursuit of reducing the drug menace by going in for supply reduction in conjunction with the government of Assam strategy of demand reduction and harm reduction.”
However, netizens claimed that more than 50% of cases registered under NDPS are false. Responding to the claims by DGP, a Guwahati resident said, “Out of these 9,309 arrested traffickers, more than 50% were false cases registered. Police blindly rely on their informers who themselves are habitual addicts/offenders. These addict sources inform the police to catch only those with whom they have a personal vendetta.”
Responding to this, Singh said, “Since you seem to have so much information, please let us know about actual drug traffickers so that we can arrest them and bring them to law.”
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On Tuesday, CM Sarma spoke about the activities of his government in the last two years and that they had to “launch a war against drugs” to control the supply and consumption because the network is large.
“The amount of seizures and the number of arrests show how serious the issue is. It also reflects our efforts which will continue till we achieve the goal of drugs-free Assam,” said Sarma.
Apart from seizures and arrests, Assam police are also spreading awareness, especially amongst the young generation, launching the ‘Drugs Free Assam’ mobile application was one of those initiatives, said the DGP.
