N-E insurgents helping peddlers spread narco-terrorism: Intel

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 5

Intelligence agencies, in a recent report to the government, have alerted about a “new nexus” between insurgent groups active in the North-Eastern region and drug peddlers, who have changed their routes for shipping and dealing.

Sources said in their intelligence report the agencies talked about looming threats from narco-terrorism, which is affecting both North-Eastern India and Bangladesh. They said as per the report the insurgent leaders involved in the syndicate have been using the Indo-Bangladesh border in their recent trade.

With Assam being the focal point of drug peddlers to push narcotics, sources say the report suggests that a number of China and Pakistan-based agencies too are allegedly part of the syndicate. Incidentally, several kilometres of the Indo-Myanmar border are still open and international drug dealers based in Myanmar take advantage of this area to sneak narcotics into India, officials in the government said.

“Through this open border, drugs worth several hundred crores are smuggled on a regular basis from Myanmar, and from there NSCN (IM) pushes the trade across Assam and India,” a senior security official said, adding that the insurgent group receives huge funds from other countries for spreading the drug menace in India.

Many drug lords based in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have reportedly invested huge funds in the operations through the “Golden Triangle”.

“Golden Triangle” represents the region coinciding with Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, known as one of the oldest and most notorious routes for narcotics supply to Europe and other parts of the world.