- 11 including 9 Myanmarese nabbed: Longding Police
By A O News Service
ITANAGAR, May 08: In a significant crackdown on illegal drug trafficking on Tuesday, Longding Police and Military Intelligence seized 1.757-kg of opium in Arunachal Pradesh, arresting 11 individuals, including 9 Myanmarese, official sources told this daily on Wednesday.
On receiving specific input regarding the presence of opium by the Military Intelligence (ECIB), a joint operation was launched by a team, comprising personnel of 24th Bn Assam Rifles and Longding Police.
Total of 1.757-kg of opium was seized from the residence of self styled NSCN (KYA) Capt Azen Wangsu and total of 11 individuals, including 9 Burmese civilians were apprehended a in connection with the illicit activity, the ECIB sources reported,
This operation marks a crucial step in the ongoing efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking in the region, the sources said, adding all apprehended individuals were handed over to Longding Police for further investigation.
This operation underscores the commitment of security forces to crack down on narcotics-related crimes and protect local community from harmful effects of drug trafficking.
It is needless to mention here that Longding shares border of Myanmar, which is infamous for the Golden Triangle, a large, mountainous region of approximately 200,000 km2 in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos, along the confluence of Ruak and Mekong Rivers.
It has been one of the largest opium producing areas of the world since the 1950s. Most of the world’s heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century. Myanmar was the world’s second-largest source of opium after Afghanistan up to 2022, producing some 25% of the world’s opium, forming part of the Golden Triangle.
While opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar had declined year-on-year since 2015, cultivation area increased by 33% to 9,000 acres alongside an 88% increase in yield potential to 790 tons in 2022, according to latest data of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2022.
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