SHILLONG, March 5: The Meghalaya Police seized drugs worth Rs 266 crore and arrested 610 drug traffickers since 2022.
Sharing the figures on Tuesday, Director General of Police (DGP) LR Bishnoi told reporters that 116 cases were registered in 2022, another 189 in 2023 and 13 in the first two months of 2024.
He said 234 persons were arrested in 2022, followed by 355 in 2023 and 25 so far this year.
Bishnoi also said that altogether 610 persons were arrested since he had donned the DGP’s mantle. Sixty-one or 10 per cent of the persons arrested were female traffickers.
The DGP said drugs worth Rs 75 crore was seized in 2022, followed by Rs 170 crore in 2023 and nearly Rs 21 crore so far this year.
He said nearly 25 kg of heroin was seized during the period – 7.5 kg in 2022, then 16.3 kg in 2023 and nearly 1 kg in the first two months of this year.
Bishnoi said the amount of marijuana seized in 2022 was of 3,900 kg, followed by 1,400 kg in 2023 and 4,750 kg so far this year. The last of them – 4,750 kg – was seized during a single operation in Ri-Bhoi district recently.
The DGP said nearly 19,000 yaba tablets were seized in 2022, followed by 60,000 in 2023 and 2,000 so far this year. The number of other psychotropic tablets seized in 2022 was 16,928, followed by 32,298 in 2023 and 600 so far this year.
Bishnoi said 14.2 kg of crystal meth was also seized. He said this was the first time that Meghalaya Police seized crystal meth, which is valued at around Rs 1.5 crore per kg.
“After analysing the NDPS data, we found that the recovery of narcotic drugs and arrest of drug traffickers in 2022 were under 28 police stations. However, the number of affected police stations rose to 30 in 2023 and 32 so far this year,” the DGP said adding that, by this data, one can imagine the gravity of the problem.
Stating that the number of drug users in the state is rising continuously and it is a cause of grave concern for all, he said Meghalaya Police adopted certain strategies, like creating awareness in schools, colleges and universities and conducting operations relentlessly against drug traffickers. Many of the drug traffickers are repeat offenders while many others are members of interstate gangs. The Meghalaya Police are committed to preventing this menace, Bishnoi said.
“We are also sharing our inputs with the adjoining states so that coordinated efforts can be put to control these problems,” he added.
