A programme to commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking under the theme "addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises" was held at Excise's conference hall, Dimapur on 27th June 2022.
Secretary, Department of Excise & Prohibition, Kevekha Kevin Zehol, while addressing the gathering, stated that northeast India shares 1643 km with Myanmar out of which Nagaland shares 215 km which was considered a very loose border and Nagaland state being a resource constraint state needs the support of bigger organizations like NCB to tackle the drug trafficking menace. He said the little funding that was used to receive was also stopped after 2008. He, therefore, appealed to NCB for a hand-holding approach to fight drug trafficking.
Calling for a concerted effort, Zehol said that only officers and personnel of Excise and Police cannot do the job but the police, paramilitary, AR, and CRPF need to have a joint coordination meet to work out the strategies. Appreciating the NGOs for their enormous efforts towards the drug menace in the society, he said that the government also needs to pull up its resources and reorganize itself, the NGOs if not more can do a lot as they intervene at a very personal level. He, therefore, called upon churches and other organizations also to come up and sensitize the young generation and make them realize how precious their lives were and their potential for a better society.
Intelligence Officer, NCB, Zonal Guwahati, Lunkholal, who spoke on the topic 'emergence scenario & challenges in the combat against drug trafficking in the NE region: an enforcement perspective' said that India's complex drug problems were due to its proximity to the two largest drug-producing region in the world, one being referred as Golden Crescent comprising of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in the west and Golden Triangle consisting of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos in the east. He informed that these two regions account for more than 90% of the world's main Opium and Heroin production.
He said that Nagaland serves as a transit route for the trafficking of drugs from Manipur and Myanmar such as morphine, opium, brown sugar, and heroin. On emerging trends and challenges in drug trafficking, he highlighted that Indo-Myanmar friendly with no border dispute and no strict fencing of the border stretch plus Free Moving Regime (FMR) between two countries allowing free movement within 16 km of border area without visa restrictions were misused and taken advantage by the criminal elements. He also mentioned the use of the darknet and the suspected use of drones by the traffickers.
Other highlights of the programme also included a special song by Prodigal's Home, Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts, Dimapur, a declaration of pledge administrated by Commissioner of Excise & Prohibition, H. Atokhe Aye, "My journey, our collective journey" by Suneo Jamir, Prodigal's Home, Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts, Dimapur. Programme was chaired by Deputy Commissioner of Excise, Katoho Sumi while a vote of thanks was proposed by Additional Commissioner of Excise, Moarenba.
(Watimenla IA Dimapur)
