Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that 18 people were arrested following simultaneous anti-drug operations at 38 locations across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur on October 23 under Operation Trident.
Giving details of the operation, Shah said the crackdown uncovered hawala transactions worth ₹ 100 crore and led to the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts and attachment of properties valued at ₹ 17.82 crore. The operation also resulted in the seizure of 500 detonators and ₹ 12 lakh in cash, he said.
The network was involved in trafficking narcotics across India, Myanmar and Bangladesh through what he described as the “Death Triangle Corridor”, according to the home minister.
“We prefer to call it the death triangle. Amid rising concerns over drug smuggling and narco-terror activities, the government has also begun fencing the India-Myanmar border. The home minister said the operation was part of the government’s broader campaign to eliminate drug trafficking networks by December 31, 2029. “The offensive attests to India’s Himalayan resolve to realise the mission of eradicating every drug network by 31 December 2029. Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world’s largest illicit opium producer following the Taliban’s 2022 poppy cultivation ban, according to the NCB. Opium production in Myanmar has reached a ten-year high, driven by economic collapse, civil war and the 2021 military takeover, with trafficking routes passing through India’s northeastern states.
India will hammer until the last nail is driven into the coffin of drug cartels,” he said. This is not just drug smuggling but is something that is affecting the lives of our youths, our culture, and our future…” he had said.
