Guwahati, May 8: Sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today began operations at Gaya in Bihar and Rae Bareily in Uttar Pradesh on the basis of information provided by four drug dealers arrested here yesterday with over 54kg of opium and 2kg of morphine.
Acting on specific information about a drug deal by an inter-state racket, the NCB team here raided a SUV (WB 58C2157) and arrested four persons - two from Manipur and one each from Gaya and Rai Bareily.
The four have been identified as Abdul Kalam, Mujibur Rahman (Imphal East), Sohrab Khan (Gaya) and Ram Milan (Rai Bareily).
"Preliminary investigation revealed that the drugs were being taken from Manipur to the north Indian states via Guwahati. Kalam is the supplier while Khan is the buyer. This group seems to be conducting a big racket, with inter-state connections. Accordingly, we sought the help of our counterparts in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and they have already swung into action," the zonal director of the NCB, Praveen Kumar Deshwal, said here today.
The NCB sources said drugs such as heroin and brown sugar are prepared from the opium supplied from Manipur and supplied to various states.
Those drugs are also used in parties in metros.
"The drugs were brought in trucks from Manipur. They had made secret chambers in the body of the SUV and concealed the consignment. The two buyers had come by air and were supposed to take the drugs by road from here," another source said.
The seizure comes amid raids conducted by Assam police against drug peddlers in Guwahati, and Dibrugarh and Nagaon districts.
The police seized drugs, ranging from heroine, ganja and psychotropic drugs (syrupablets) during the raid.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday expressed concern about the drug menace in the state.
Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh are the two major sources of drugs and the inter-state drug smugglers supply them to various parts of the country.
The enforcement agencies have been struggling to control the menace as opium and ganja is cultivated in interior places in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and in some parts of Assam (riverine areas), making it difficult for them to crack down on those involved.
"Ganja produced in Manipur, Tripura and Bhutan (supplied via Assam) has huge demand in states outside the Northeast. Being the gateway of the Northeast, Guwahati has been a transit route for the drug smugglers. Many carriers were arrested earlier in Guwahati but this time we managed to arrest the buyer and supplier," Deshwal said.
Sources said the NCB decided to carry out operations in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to trace the buyers and those involved in the racket.
"We hope to stumble upon information to confirm whether the drug suppliers are financially supporting the opium cultivators in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh or not. We require some other information to crack down on the drug menace," another source in the bureau said.
